The railway protection force (RPF) arrested two persons, including a railway employee and a scrap dealer, for allegedly stealing water taps from various trains, last week.
The RPF has recovered over 40 stolen taps from their possession.
The accused were identified as Suraj, who works as a painter in the senior section engineer (SSE) works’ wing of railways in Rajpura (Ambala Division), and Prakash Chand, a scrap dealer in Ludhiana.
Suraj, who is said to have got the job on compassionate grounds, resides in
Railway Colony, Rajpura, and hails from Shyam Nagar of Ludhiana. He is also a drug addict, RPF officials said.
They added that there were numerous complaints of tap thefts on various trains in Patiala, Phillaur, Ludhiana, Rajpura and Ambala last month.
“Passengers used to complain of water leakage in toilets which had become a headache for railway staff. Following this, teams were deputed on trains to nab the culprits,” said an RPF official.
On January 13, during checking on Gangasatluj Express train, an RPF team found Suraj leaving the toilet in haste. His clothes were drenched and he was carrying a bag. On suspicion, the team checked the toilet and found a tap missing. Suraj was immediately nabbed. He claimed to be a railway employee who had come to repair the tap, but on checking, officials recovered five taps from his bag and arrested him.
{{/usCountry}}On January 13, during checking on Gangasatluj Express train, an RPF team found Suraj leaving the toilet in haste. His clothes were drenched and he was carrying a bag. On suspicion, the team checked the toilet and found a tap missing. Suraj was immediately nabbed. He claimed to be a railway employee who had come to repair the tap, but on checking, officials recovered five taps from his bag and arrested him.
{{/usCountry}}During investigation, the accused confessed to his crime and revealed that he had previously carried out thefts on trains, including Mumbai CSMT Amritsar Express, Paschim Express, Dadar, Punjab Mail, etc.
“The thefts took place between Phagwara and Ambala, Patiala and Dhuri-Ludhiana sections,” added an officer.
Suraj was booked under Sections 3 RP (UP) Act dated at Ludhiana RPF Post on January 13.
Suraj further revealed that he sold the taps to a local junk dealer Prakash Chand, who was eventually held on January 16, after numerous raids and traps. “As soon the scrap dealer got to know about Suraj’s arrest, he fled but landed in police net after three days. Around 40 taps were recovered from him, which were stolen by Suraj and sold to him,” said an official.