This is for you if you travel frequently and rely on trains for your transportation needs.
After finishing my semester assignments, I returned to my hometown a few days ago. Due to the uncertainty of examination dates and, of course, no one wants to pay that costly flight rescheduling fee if they have vacations ahead, I've been taking trains at least for returning for the past couple of semesters.
However, due to a lack of direct train tickets, we decided to take a vacation. In the latter half of our journey, we boarded the Ernakulam- Patna express from Perambur (a railway station in Chennai). The train arrived on the platform about 6:30 a.m., after being delayed for more than 45 minutes. In the B2 coach, I was assigned to berth number 62.
In that cubicle, there were already two people and a girl. A family from that station also hurried into our compartment. That girl, along with three pieces of luggage, was on their berth. They inquired about her berth, to which she replied that she was traveling on a waiting ticket and apologized. They urged her to move her bags because the area was nearly full and they, too, had a lot of belongings. The girl requested that only one cart be kept in that location, and she removed two of her bags. They kindly accepted it because she appeared to be alone and helpless.
She moved on to a different compartment after that. Throughout the day, she wandered about and sat in practically every compartment for an hour or two. During her talk with the family in our compartment, I learned that they were planning to attend their nephew's wedding.
Everyone had finished their dinner by 10 p.m. and returned to their berths. One of my buddies was on the side top berth, so I went to the adjacent compartment. We planned to watch a movie together after he took out his laptop. By this time, all of the lights had been turned off.
The girl is still active, as we can see. She entered our cubicle, looked around, and then left. We assumed she was checking her bags and proceeded to ignore her. After about an hour, I returned to my berth, retrieved the water bottle from my bag, which was kept on the upper berth, checked to see if everyone was sleeping well, and then went back to my friend's berth. We finally opted to sleep when the train arrived at Bhubaneswar station at about 2:40 a.m. That girl had not yet fallen asleep. Almost everyone slept with one or two sleeping bags under their heads.
With my shoulder bag on my berth, I slept in the same position. After hearing a loud noise, I awoke. It was 5:15 p.m. That family was practically shouting because two of their suitcases vanished from their beds. Everything was OK until 2:45 p.m., and everything happened within the last few hours, I exclaimed. The trolley and the child were both missing from the carriage.
The TTE was notified by that person. He inquired about it in other compartments where she had stored her other belongings. She had told various anecdotes about her waiting ticket in several compartments. The TTE filed a complaint, claiming that such incidents are all too common nowadays.
Any random passenger waiting for a ticket and a considerable amount of luggage should separate his or her belongings into several containers to better visualize the environment and exit when the circumstance is favorable. And if they are caught, they can easily get away by blaming it on their own luggage.
This con is growing at a rapid rate, and it primarily happens at night. If you don't want to lose your hard-earned money, be wary of such people, keep your eyes open throughout the ride, report any suspicious activity to the railway officials,, and place your luggage after ensuring its safety.