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MP: Train thief wanted in multiple states lands in RPF net after hiding in pond for 5 hours
MP: Train thief wanted in multiple states lands in RPF net after hiding in pond for 5 hours
Jabalpur , A 42-year-old man hailing from Uttar Pradesh, wanted in several cases of thefts on trains, has been arrested in the district after a five-hour operation involving an anxious wait on the edge of a pond, police said on Wednesday.
Harvinder Singh alias Sunny allegedly tried to steal a woman's purse in an AC coach of the Rewa-Itwari Express in the wee hours of Monday when it was passing through Jabalpur district, said a Railway Protection Force official.
He was spotted by RPF personnel, but as the train slowed down near Sihora Road station at 5.15 am, he jumped off and ran, said inspector Rajiv Kharb.
RPF personnel chased him, but Singh jumped into a pond filled with lotus plants and algae in Khitoula area.
The RPF personnel then contacted the local police, fearing that he had drowned.
Divers were called in, but they could not locate him. Finally, Singh was spotted alive at around 10.30 am, and was taken into custody.
He might have used lotus stems to breath while remaining under the algae-filled surface of the pond, the official said.
At first Singh gave a false name and address, but inspector Kharb pulled out a photograph of a wanted thief stored in his phone since 2018 and realized that he was the same person.
Singh had been an independent corporator in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district from where he hails, said the official.
He is wanted by Bhopal Government Railway Police in five cases. He also faces cases in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, among other states. In 2018, he had allegedly committed a gold and diamond theft of ₹70 lakh on a train in Visakhapatnam.
He typically targeted AC coaches, hid in toilets to evade ticket checkers, and changed the SIM card often. He also changed his stealing route every three months, and never carried any identifying document on him.
Inspector Kharb said that since Singh's arrest, he has been receiving calls from as far as Kerala where Singh is wanted in a 2024 train theft case.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
