Chor…chor…chor…screamed my mum as she parted the curtains of our 2nd AC compartment and ran into the corridor.
A couple of minutes later she returned. On seeing me seated in her seat (I was sleeping on the upper berth), she threw a volley of questions at me – How could you sleep like “Kumbhakarna” when that man snatched & ran off with your bag? You don’t even wake up when I shake you etc. etc.
I looked at her as if she lost her mind & asked her if she had a nightmare. She had, luckily for me, started cooling off. Giving me a quizzical look she asked if it wasn’t me then who was it?
Not comprehending what she was saying, I asked her to begin at the beginning.
She said she felt a presence and heard me feebly cry chor…chor…that woke her. Seeing me still asleep, her first thought was the thief injured me and ran away with my purse. So she shook me to check if I was alright and not seeing my purse, ran after the thief.
As she passed the next two compartments, she didn’t see anyone and it struck her that maybe the thief had an accomplice who might be looting her purse that she left behind on her seat while she ran in pursuit. Not seeing anyone, she had returned to her seat.
I showed her my purse & said I was sleeping on it so maybe she did not notice it.
When she saw that neither was I hurt nor my purse stolen, she felt sheepish. She insisted that she did hear someone cry chor…chor..and didn’t imagine it.
As if on cue, a man approached us and asked my mom if she saw the thief. We realized her scream had woken everyone in the coach and our compartment was now the hub as everyone gathered to know what the hue & cry was all about.
Mr. A said that his wife’s and their fellow passenger’s purse, mobile phones & few pieces of jewelry were missing.
Apparently Mrs. A felt something brush against her hand. Thinking it was her husband checking on their toddler sleeping next to her she did not open her eyes. It was only when she heard someone scream chor…chor…she got up. She was hoping that this scream (loud enough to cut through the silent night) would not wake her son up. As she extended her arm to pat her son to sleep, she noticed her gold bangles were missing. When she looked around, her purse was gone and so were the couple of necklaces/chains she wore.
Mr. & Mrs. S – their co-passengers’ sleep was also disturbed and had woken up. Mrs. S realized her purse and gold chains were missing.
Since they heard the cry chor…chor…they came to check if there were other victims & if anyone had any information.
My mom repeated what she had just told us. The men then combed the compartment to search of the thief and to find the stolen goods, I dialed the numbers of Mrs. A and Mrs. S one after the other with little hope that it would ring. As expected the two numbers were switched off.
The Ticket Examiners (there were a couple of them) came over & asked the two couples to make a formal complaint with the railway police at the next station. On cue the train slowed and we realized we arrived at Gwalior. It was nearing 4 a.m. The two couples (that had been robbed) left our compartment along with the ticket examiners.
My fellow passengers, mum & I tried to play detective but could neither guess the identity of the thief nor find where the loot was. Till date this remains an unsolved crime.
–END–
