Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Sep 15: Shekhar Poojary from Bajagoly near Karkala, who boarded Matsyagandha Excpress train at Kurla on September 13, was in an intoxicated state when he alighted at Udupi. As he was suffering from nausea and not in his senses, the railway officials admitted him into the district hospital here on Wednesday September 14.

Poojary, it is learnt, was served tea by unknown persons who befriended him at Kurla station. He does not know what happened thereafter, till he was admitted into the hospital. He used to do business in Mumbai in the past, and visits the metro often to visit his relatives for business transactions. On his arrival here, he found that 40 grams of gold ornaments comprising of a neck chain and a finger ring, and Rs 5,000 in cash in his possession, had gone missing.

The incident, which is not an isolated one, stresses once again the importance of not responding to overtures of strangers in trains, and not to accept food and beverages offered by them. Only food served by canteen employees, who wear uniforms, should be accepted. Local station master, Nagaraj Shetty, has appealed to people travelling by trains to be alert and not to consume food items provided by fellow passengers about whom they know nothing.