Further details are to hand of the outrage on the lives of a Reserve Police Searching Party at Mavoothanpatti, near Ammayanayakanur Railway Station in the District of Madura, the news of which I telegraphed to you this morning [February 28]. For over a year and a half, I am told there have been reported a series of cases of thefts of bags of rice, chillies or other food-stuffs from running goods trains during nights between stations Kodaikanal Road and Ambaturai: and the attempts made on the part of the Railway Police on various occasions to apprehend the criminals and to recover the property lost had been fruitless. Even quite recently a few days ago a similar theft of four or five gunny bags of chillies had occurred and the Railway Police have been taken to task for their want of sufficient vigilance.
