Midnight mystery: Search for ‘stolen’ tablet halts Amrita Express; found later on tracks

WADAKKANCHERY: It was supposed to be a routine night shift for TTE Srihari aboard the Amrita Express. However, around midnight on Thursday, a routine journey turned into a high-stakes search when his official railway tablet—a critical device containing passenger manifests and reservation data—vanished without a trace.

Once the loss was discovered, the atmosphere in the compartment shifted from sleepy to suspicious. Suspecting a passenger might have snatched the device, Srihari initiated an exhaustive search of the entire coach. When the tablet failed to turn up, the train was brought to an unscheduled halt at Wadakkanchery station.

Initially, the response was sluggish. Srihari reported the incident via the railway’s toll-free helpline, but the call yielded no immediate action. It wasn't until a frantic message was broadcast across a TTE WhatsApp group that the gears of authority began to turn.

The Wadakkanchery police soon arrived on the scene, scouring the compartment for the missing tech. Despite their efforts, the search proved fruitless. With passengers growing restless and no device in sight, the train was eventually cleared to continue its journey.

The mystery took a turn on Friday morning. Eschewing the coaches for the gravel, police conducted a sweep of the railway tracks near the station. There, lying amidst the sleepers on the station premises, was the missing tablet.
While the device has been recovered, the central question remains: How did a secured official tablet end up on the tracks? Whether it was discarded by a panicked thief or fell through a gap remains a mystery. The police have officially launched an investigation to piece together the final moments before the device "disembarked" the train.