GRP nabs man for stealing bag with ₹28-lakh valuables in Mumbai

Crime branch officers of the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a 25-year-old man from Karnataka on Wednesday, 48 hours after he stole a bag containing valuables worth ₹28 lakh from a co-passenger at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Kurla

Crime branch officers of the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a 25-year-old man from Karnataka on Wednesday, 48 hours after he stole a bag containing valuables worth ₹28 lakh from a co-passenger at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Kurla.

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According to GRP officers, the accused, Hasan Bashir Shaikh, was travelling on Coimbatore Express. Assistant inspector Mangesh Khade from GRP crime branch said that the complainant, 21-year-old Balaji Devendra, along with his relatives, had boarded the train at 9.45pm on Monday and were going to Coimbatore for a function. Later, Devendra noticed that a brown bag with jewellery and cash was missing. He registered a complaint with Kurla GRP against an unidentified thief.

Khade said they checked the CCTV recordings of LTT’s entry and exit points but did not find anyone leave the premises with the bag.

“It was clear that the bag and the robber were on the same train,” said Khade.

The officers then checked the train’s commuter list and the phone locations of the passengers. The police also verified the CCTV of the platform where Devendra had kept the luggage and checked if any of the passengers had been near the luggage. “Shaikh was seen near the luggage and he had boarded the train. But he was in a different compartment and had got off at Kalburgi in Karnataka,” said Khade.

Based on the CCTV footage, the police detained Shaikh after which he confessed to the crime.

Khade said that Shaikh had not committed any crime prior to this.

“Shaikh took advantage of the opportunity when he saw Devendra’s luggage at the platform. He kept his bag near the luggage and while picking his bag, he also picked up the brown trolley bag belonging to Devendra,” said Khade.

The police recovered the bag and arrested Shaikh for theft under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.