Phone snatched off moving train; Migrant worker falls to death

CHENNAI: A 24-year-old migrant worker died after he fell from a moving express train when an unidentified youth standing near the track allegedly tried to snatch his mobile phone near Korukkupet railway station on Saturday.

The deceased S Rony Sheik, 24 of West Bengal was travelling in Coromandel express (Santragachi to MGR Chennai Central Railway station) and was coming to Chennai when the incident happened.

Railway Police said that he was sitting on the footboard on coach number S4 as he did not have a confirmed ticket. When the train was moving slowly waiting for a signal in between Korrukupet railway station and Basin Bridge railway station, a youth standing on the track slapped his hand to make the phone fall.

"While attempting to catch hold of the phone as it slipped his hands, Rony fell down from the train and his head hit the ground, " said a railway police official. He was rushed to the Government Stanley Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The accused escaped with his mobile phone and police have launched a hunt for the accused.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Rony was headed to Kerala for a construction job. He was travelling with a friend, Asraj Sheik, 22. Railway Police sources said that several express trains operate at a slow pace in the Korukkupet-Basin Bridge stretch, which has encouraged such snatching incidents from those travelling footboard. A railway police officer said that some of the snatchers attack traveller's hands using logs to make the phone fall and escape with them.

Near the same location where Rony Sheikh fell, A CISF constable claimed that he was pushed off a moving train by a robber, who snatched his mobile phone and allegedly pushed him off the train near Korukkupet on Friday. Senior Railway Police officials however denied the constable's version and said that he slipped and fell off the train while he was standing on the footboard.

The constable, Vivek Kumar, 26, of Bihar survived with minor injuries and was treated at a hospital and boarded another train. A senior railway police officer said that his mobile phone was recovered intact, without any damages.