Nagpur: Four miscreants waylaid a native of Madhya Pradesh on Ram Jhula and beat him with a baton while he was heading to Nagpur railway station on early Tuesday. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on railway passengers heading to the station in the early hours.The area in and around Ram Jhula has a history of such crimes. There is no CCTV coverage and police post that once stood there has been dismantled. With almost zero police presence in the night, knife-wielding goons are targeting passengers in and around the station, with two murders and numerous robberies in the last one year.Complaints have been lodged at Ganeshpeth and Sitabuldi police stations about commuters being robbed and assaulted by in areas near the railway station.In the latest incident, Arvind Prajapati, 33-year-old farmer from Kolar Tola in Silwani tehsil of Raisen district in MP, was walking towards the railway station around 3.30am. Two miscreants grabbed his hands and feet while another snatched ₹5,650 in cash and a cellphone, valued at ₹15,000, from his trouser pocket. One the miscreants then assaulted him with a baton and threatened to kill him if he approached police.Prajapati lodged a complaint at Ganeshpeth police station. No arrests have been made so far. Police teams are examining CCTV footage from the area.In a recent case, a carpenter from Jharkhand was robbed of ₹30,000 at knifepoint near Empress Mall Gate while travelling in an e-rickshaw to catch a train. Three men intercepted and threatened him, and fled on a two-wheeler after snatching cash from the carpenter.Earlier, a couple was harassed and then attacked with knife by three miscreants on Ganesh Tekdi road while trying to reach the station. A few days ago, three persons robbed a passenger in an autorickshaw en route to the railway station.Complaints were filed at Ganeshpeth and Sitabuldi police stations where cases have been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, but the accused remain at large. The pattern of violence against late-night and early-morning travellers has raised serious questions about the effectiveness of night patrolling in Nagpur.
