Serial chain snatcher arrested in Malwani; gold chains worth ₹4 lakh recovered

According to the Borivali Government Railway Police (GRP), on June 24, the complainant, Harman Singh, 28, a Virar resident, approached them and claimed that an unidentified robber snatched his gold chain worth ₹1.35 lakh

Mumbai A man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly snatching gold chains from commuters travelling late at night in local trains. The accused, identified as Surjeet Gautam Kaur, 25, was arrested from Malwani and three gold chains worth ₹4 lakh were recovered from his house.

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According to the Borivali Government Railway Police (GRP), on June 24, the complainant, Harman Singh, 28, a Virar resident, approached them and claimed that an unidentified robber snatched his gold chain worth ₹1.35 lakh.

Singh told the police that on June 24, he had boarded the Bhayander slow train from Andheri at 12am. Singh said that since the train had a few passengers, he was sitting on the third seat.

“At 12.20am when the train reached Kandivali, the robber who was standing on the footboard, approached him and within seconds, snatched the gold chain from his neck and jumped in the opposite direction on the tracks and fled. The robbery happened so fast that Singh did not get time to react. Singh then alighted the train at Borivali station and registered an FIR against the robber,” a police officer said.

After scanning through the CCTV footage, the police identified the robber and found out there were several cases registered against him, he said, adding, “Kaur, a serial chain snatcher, travels in the trains late at night and targets passengers wearing gold chains. Since the passengers travelling so late are tired and often go to sleep in the train.”

The officer added that Kaur then waited for the passengers to sleep and as the train reached Kandivali or Malad, he snatched the chain of the passenger and jumped off the moving train, disappearing in the tracks.

“After identifying him, we reached his house in Malwani, Malad West, and arrested him. On searching his house, the police found three gold chains worth ₹4 lakh which he had robbed from passengers in Vasai and Virar. We are now finding out how many more passengers he robbed,” said the officer.