Growing up, most of us have heard the same advice from our parents a thousand times – “Never take sweets, food, or drinks from strangers.” It felt like a rule meant only for little kids. As adults, we often think we can judge people’s intentions better. But sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes of warmth and friendliness for someone to lower their guard. And unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened with a Reddit user recently.
A user named Acrobatic-Health2681 took to the r/delhi subreddit to share a frightening experience he had while travelling from Karnataka to New Delhi on the Karnataka Express for a friend’s wedding.
He recalled how two men, appearing to be in their 50s, started chatting with him during the journey. They spoke in Bihari and Hindi, cracked jokes, and slowly befriended him. Over time, they managed to extract personal details like where he lived, his age, and his workplace. When they found out he was heading to a wedding, they cleverly claimed they were going to the same one from the bride’s side.
“We built a good rapport in time and later they offered some dinner they got which I refused saying I already have mine with me. They felt kind of offended by it but I wasn’t comfortable taking food from others on train especially being a solo traveller. They didnt talk for a while and went silent and I started listenting to some music and turned away thinking its for the better,” he wrote.
However, later they offered him mango juice and insisted he drink it. He nervously gave in. One of them even patted his cheeks, calling him a “good boy” for being polite and obedient.
“Later on they offered some mango juice saying it will help me feel relaxed and have a good night’s sleep. I initially refused but one of the uncles put their arm around me this time and forced me to drink the juice in a very friendly way saying ‘Kaunsa bachcha hai jo mango juice peena nahi pasand karta? Beta, aapko toh peena hi padega jab bade log bolein toh’ and laughed out loud. They were saying I refused to even taste their food which was bad. I couldn’t refuse this time,” he revealed.
He went to sleep on his upper berth around 11.30 PM. What happened next was a nightmare. He lost consciousness and remained asleep for nearly 24 hours, and woke up all groggy and disoriented only when the train neared Bhopal Junction. That’s when he realized he had been robbed on the train. His phone, wallet, bag, shoes, watch, gold jewellery – everything was gone.
He later managed to block his ATM cards, filed a police complaint, and reached out to his friend for help. But the damage was already done.
“What’s worse is that I thought I was being careful. I didn’t accept food right away, I avoided giving out too much info initially… but these guys were just so cunning and manipulative. They knew exactly how to gain trust and make you let your guard down,” he said.
Have a look at the full post here:
Got sedated, slept soundly and robbed off all my valuables
byu/Acrobatic-Health2681 indelhi
His post managed to alarm innumerable people online. Many shared similar experiences while travelling via train. Have a look:
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This is a lesson for us all!