‘Plain reflex cost my husband his arm': Doc says day after freak robbery bid on train
MUMBAI: It all happened in a flash, said Dr Dipali Deshmukh, whose husband Dr Yogesh Deshmukh lost his left hand after they both fell off the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Nanded Special train in the early hours on Thursday. A robber tried to snatch Dipali's purse when the train was between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg, but since it was secured tightly around her hand, she got dragged till the door, her husband following her – the robber then jumped off the moving train, pulling the couple down behind him.
'There was only ₹5,000 in my purse, but I did not let go of it as everything transpired within seconds,' the 44-year-old Dipali said, sitting beside her husband in Fortis Hospital, holding her tears as she watched him without his left arm. 'It was a plain reflex which cost my husband his arm.'
Dipali and Yogesh Deshmukh, 50, were travelling to Latur with their daughter Shraddha, 9, when the incident occurred around 3.50am on Thursday. They were fast asleep when Dipali felt someone touching her.
'I woke up and looked at the man in front of me trying to pull my purse. Since I had wrapped the strap around my arm and held my purse tightly under my elbow, I did not let it go even as the robber pulled me,' she said.
She let go of the purse when the robber tried to snatch it as he jumped off the moving train. But it was too late – her husband had heard her scream and rushed to save her, and both fell off the running train. They were rushed to Fortis Hospital, where doctors had to amputate Yogesh's left hand from the elbow due to injuries sustained from the fall.
'He is a doctor who lost his arm due to a senseless robbery bid,' said Dipali. 'Whatever happened to us should not happen to anyone else.'
'The robber's back was towards her and it was dark, so she could not see his face clearly,' said Sambhaji Yadav, senior police inspector, Kurla GRP. 'But we have prepared a sketch of the robber based on the description of his looks, height and body type.'
The robber was likely a habitual offender, said Yadav. There are no CCTV cameras installed on the tracks between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg, where the robber jumped off the moving train, he said. 'But there is only one exit point along the tracks and we are checking the CCTV footage of the area to ascertain the identity of the robber,' said the officer.
The police were also showing Dipali photos of habitual robbers to check if any of them were involved, he added.
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Hindustan Times
20 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Plain reflex cost my husband his arm': Doc says day after freak robbery bid on train
MUMBAI: It all happened in a flash, said Dr Dipali Deshmukh, whose husband Dr Yogesh Deshmukh lost his left hand after they both fell off the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Nanded Special train in the early hours on Thursday. A robber tried to snatch Dipali's purse when the train was between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg, but since it was secured tightly around her hand, she got dragged till the door, her husband following her – the robber then jumped off the moving train, pulling the couple down behind him. 'There was only ₹5,000 in my purse, but I did not let go of it as everything transpired within seconds,' the 44-year-old Dipali said, sitting beside her husband in Fortis Hospital, holding her tears as she watched him without his left arm. 'It was a plain reflex which cost my husband his arm.' Dipali and Yogesh Deshmukh, 50, were travelling to Latur with their daughter Shraddha, 9, when the incident occurred around 3.50am on Thursday. They were fast asleep when Dipali felt someone touching her. 'I woke up and looked at the man in front of me trying to pull my purse. Since I had wrapped the strap around my arm and held my purse tightly under my elbow, I did not let it go even as the robber pulled me,' she said. She let go of the purse when the robber tried to snatch it as he jumped off the moving train. But it was too late – her husband had heard her scream and rushed to save her, and both fell off the running train. They were rushed to Fortis Hospital, where doctors had to amputate Yogesh's left hand from the elbow due to injuries sustained from the fall. 'He is a doctor who lost his arm due to a senseless robbery bid,' said Dipali. 'Whatever happened to us should not happen to anyone else.' 'The robber's back was towards her and it was dark, so she could not see his face clearly,' said Sambhaji Yadav, senior police inspector, Kurla GRP. 'But we have prepared a sketch of the robber based on the description of his looks, height and body type.' The robber was likely a habitual offender, said Yadav. There are no CCTV cameras installed on the tracks between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg, where the robber jumped off the moving train, he said. 'But there is only one exit point along the tracks and we are checking the CCTV footage of the area to ascertain the identity of the robber,' said the officer. The police were also showing Dipali photos of habitual robbers to check if any of them were involved, he added.
NDTV
a day ago
- NDTV
Doctor's Handbag Robbed On Train, Husband Loses Arm Trying To Save Her
Mumbai: A 50-year-old Mumbai-based doctor lost a part of his arm after he and his wife fell on the railway tracks during a robbery on a moving train. Yogesh Deshmukh, 50, and his wife Deepali Deshmukh, 44, both doctors, were travelling with their nine-year-old daughter in the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Kurla)-Nanded Express on Wednesday. The robbery occurred between Kanjunmarg and Bhandup. Just 15 minutes after the train had left Kurla terminus, a robber tried to snatch Ms Deshmukh's handbag. She resisted. As she held on to her handbag, the robber dragged her along till the gate of the coach. Her husband, who was sleeping on the upper berth, rushed to her rescue. Trying to save her, both fell on the tracks. Ms Deshmukh suffered bruises while a part of her husband's arm was crushed under the train. By that time, the train had slowed, and the robber had jumped off with the handbag. No railway security personnel were present during the incident. Ms Deshmukh told the police that she and her husband tried to contact the police helpline but were not aware of their location. A tempo driver noticed them asking for help and took them to a private hospital. The couple's minor daughter was safely disembarked at Kalyan, and the authorities were informed about the incident. Railway Police have registered a case against unidentified robbers and are going through CCTV footage to identify the suspect.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Couple thrown off moving train while fighting off robber
Mumbai: A couple was thrown off a moving train and seriously injured while they tried to fight off a robber who attempted to snatch the woman's bag between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg stations on Wednesday. The Kurla Government Railway police (GRP) said that Dipali Deshmukh, 44, a resident of Panvel, was travelling on the LTT Nanded special Express train with her husband, Yogesh Deshmukh, 50, and their nine-year-old daughter when the train slowed down between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup stations. The family was asleep when at 3:50am Dipali felt a tug at her purse. She told the police that she screamed and did not let go of her bag as the thief dragged her towards the door. Her husband, an ayurvedic doctor in Panvel, awoke and tried to help her, but the robber dragged both victims towards the door and pulled them along with him as he jumped off the train. The couple fell onto the tracks and were seriously injured. Dipali said, 'I got up and immediately took my husband to the Fortis hospital as he had injured his arm and shoulder.' Due to the gravity of the injuries, Yogesh's left arm had to be amputated. Based on the couple's complaint, the Kurla GRP has booked the unidentified thief under section 309 (robbery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). In a similar incident, on June 1, another couple, Ayub Khan, 46, and Hina Khan, 42, were targeted by a gang of four robbers on the Jaipur-Bandra Express. The couple tried to fight off the robbers but were threatened at knife-point and robbed of valuables worth ₹700,000.
