Six employees who staffed a sleeper carriage where passengers were possibly drugged and robbed have been suspended while police investigate the incident.
State railway officials, already reeling from the rape and murder of a child last month aboard a train, struck a defensive posture and said the crime might be an attempt to “discredit” the railway.
On Monday morning, belongings were stolen from at least nine passengers in an overnight car, many of whom awoke complaining of dizziness.
Military voluinteer Pathom Pinagun, a passenger on the train whose phone was stolen, said he felt drugged and had never slept that deeply on the train before.
The passengers were sleeping one car away from the new women-only compartment introduced since a railway employee raped and strangled a 13-year-old girl before forcing her out a window.
Railway permanent secrety Soithip Traisuth said it was strange such a crime could happen under the heightened security environment. She said someone might be attempting to damage the reputation of the state railway.
A railway employee working the sleeper car said nothing strange had happened and no one had entered the car. Police said none of the staff nor passengers tested positive for drugs.
Investigators said they are working to track down the stolen phones.
Photo: Twitter @joe_black317
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