Engineering student wrestles snatcher who pulled him out of moving train in Delhi

According to police, the incident took place at around 3.10pm at an underpass in Gulabi Bagh, close to Sabzi Mandi railway station. Nihal Gaurav was on his way to Ambala in the general compartment of a train and stood at its door, said police.

A 22-year-old engineering student was injured after he was pulled out of a moving train by a snatcher in north Delhi on Saturday. The student, however, held on to the suspect until help arrived, police said.

According to police, the incident took place at around 3.10pm at an underpass in Gulabi Bagh, close to Sabzi Mandi railway station. Nihal Gaurav was on his way to Ambala in the general compartment of a train and stood at its door, said police.

“As the train passed through an underpass in Gulabi Bagh, I was suddenly pulled down by the snatcher. The moment I fell along the railway tracks, he pinned me down and pulled out my phone from my pocket,” Nihal Gaurav told the police.

Gaurav said he hung to his attacker. “We wrestled on the ground, but I held on to his leg and didn’t let him run away. I snatched back my phone and made a call to the police even as I continued to hold him,” said Gaurav.

As luck would have it, two railway policemen were passing by at that very moment. “They heard his cries and rushed to help. They caught the suspect and called for further help,” said DCP (Railways) DK Gupta who identified the suspect (by only a single name) as Suraj, 23-year-old resident of north Delhi’s Gulabi Bagh. “Suraj has a criminal record mainly involving snatchings. He has been booked for causing hurt while committing robbery,” said the DCP.

Police said Gaurav’s injuries were not serious. “He was injured on his head, waist and limbs. He is alive because the train was moving slowly at the time,” said Gaurav’s friend, Aman Prakash.

In September 2017, a woman had bled to death after falling off a running train when a snatcher attacked her near Old Delhi railway station.