MUMBAI: A 26-year-old Nashik resident travelling by the Tapovan Express lost his foot when he fell from the moving train after a ‘fatka’ gang member allegedly hit him with a stick. The Kalyan Government Railway Police (GRP) force has detained a 16-year-old suspect in the matter.
According to GRP officers, the incident took place at 7 am on Sunday when the victim, Gaurav Nikam, who had come to Thane for work, was returning to his hometown, Nashik. Nikam was standing near the footboard when the assailant hit him on the hand with a stick between Shahad and Ambivali stations. GRP officers said that after Nikam fell, his left leg went under the wheels of the train, causing serious injury.
The robber, however, took no pity on the victim, and began to beat and kick him. He also assaulted him with a stick before forcibly stealing his phone worth ₹20,000.
The other passengers, who saw Nikam falling, pulled the chain of the train, alerting the authorities. “We have a constable positioned on the tracks at intervals to keep an eye and prevent fatka incidents,” said a police officer. “These points are known as fatka points, which were strategically chosen in the past five years.”
On hearing the chaos, the constable on duty at the fatka point rushed to Nikam and called for an ambulance that took Nikam to hospital. His foot had to be amputated below the ankle.
The Kalyan GRP has registered a case under Sections 307, 309(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita on Sunday morning, after which they began their investigation and detained a 16-year-old suspect. “We will produce the suspect before the Child Welfare Committee for further action,” said the officer.
The notorious fatka gangs comprise robbers stationed near the railway tracks who attack passengers standing on the footboard of local trains with sticks and stones, causing their phones to fall on the tracks. The gang derived its name from the Marathi word ‘fatka’, which means a hit. It has been operating for several years.