Slashed 7 times, but IAF man held on to thief at rail station

Rakesh Ranjan, a 23-year-old IAF officer, chased down a robber in a train and then on the railway tracks at Nizamuddin railway station on Saturday, despite the goon retaliating with a sharp blade and "slashing" him at least seven times.

Ranjan said he was on the way to Agra from Jalandhar in Chhattisgarh Express with his wife and their eight-month-old child. "Around six in the morning, my wife woke me up and said a teenager had stolen her bag," he said.

"She said she saw the robber, but kept quiet fearing that he might attack her. She told me that he had a tattoo on his hand and that she saw him running to the coach towards the rear," he said.

Ranjan immediately took off in the direction. "I saw him running with the bag. The passage was clear as the passengers were sleeping. He kept running from one coach to another, and I followed," he said.

Soon the train pulled into Nizamuddin station and slowed down. "The robber jumped out and started running towards the tracks. I was behind him. After chasing him for another 400 metres, I pinned him down with both my legs on his chest," he said.

But the robber didn't give up. "He whipped out a blade and slashed my face, neck, torso and hands. He attacked me at least seven times," Ranjan said.

By then, Ranjan and his wife's calls for help alerted the other passengers. They came to his rescue and handed over the robber to the Railways police.

Ranjan was taken to Safdarjung Hospital and was discharged on Sunday evening. He and his family returned to Jalandhar on Monday morning.

"I do not know what gave me the courage to chase the robber . All I knew was that I had to get him," he said. His Facebook profile says he is a die-hard Salman Khan fan, and rightly so.

ALSO READ

37 years on, Urdu school faces second eviction

Civic agencies could lose Rs 100 crore a year if Haryana buys Rajokri toll plaza: Delhi chief secy

Ghalib returns home, his haveli opens today as public memorial

Cross at your own risk