Railway police arrests No.8 on their most wanted list

On searching the woman’s house, they found six gold chains collectively valued at ₹7 lakh hidden inside her cupboard and rice storage jar.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) crime branch arrested Sunita Shelar, a woman who was number eight on their list of most wanted robbers in the city on Tuesday. On searching the woman’s house, they found six gold chains collectively valued at ₹7 lakh hidden inside her cupboard and rice storage jar.

Robber Sunita Shelar arrested by Government Railway Police (GRP) (HT PHOTO)

“She has been wanted in more than 40 cases across the central and harbour railway lines,” said Ashok Holkar, a police inspector associated with the GRP crime branch.

Police officers said that in the last one month, they have received several robbery complaints in which a similar modus operandi had been employed. “In almost all, the victims have been women, carrying children’’, said Holkar

The most recent complainant, Deepika Dilip Palande, a Karjat resident, approached the police on June 29 after she found her bag’s zipper open and her gold chain worth ₹1 lakh stolen, said GRP officials. Palande informed the police that she boarded a local train from Belapur station to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) with her two-year-old son, en route to her in-laws’ house. She was carrying her son while she boarded the train since it was during peak travelling hours.

Palande claimed that a gold chain was concealed in her shoulder bag to prevent it from getting stolen. However, after she boarded the train, she noticed that her bag’s zipper was open and the gold chain was missing.

The police scanned footage from more than 120 CCTV cameras till they spotted a woman who appeared to be opening the purse of another woman carrying a child at Thane station. The police then identified the accused as Sunita Shelar and obtained her address from their informants.

The police have engaged in a search to recover gold and other booty allegedly stolen by her, estimated to be worth about ₹30 lakh. “Shelar used to pay her rent and meet household expenses by selling the stolen booty,” said Holkar.