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MP: Thief hides in pond for 5 hours after stealing woman's purse, lotus stem likely helped him breathe
The incident occurred in MP’s Jabalpur district, where 42-year-old Harvinder Singh stole a woman’s purse on the Rewa–Itwari Express
A train thief stole a woman’s purse on a running train and, fearing he would be caught by the police, jumped off into a pond and disappeared. The police searched for him in the pond but could not find him for nearly five hours. Eventually, he was caught.
The incident took place in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district, when 42-year-old Harvinder Singh stole a woman’s purse on the Rewa–Itwari Express in the early hours of Monday and fled.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel spotted him and gave chase. As the train slowed down slightly, the thief jumped off into a pond filled with lotus plants and algae in the Khitoula area, according to news agency PTI.
The RPF personnel saw him jump into the pond and immediately alerted the local police. A search operation was launched, but the thief could not be located in the water. The RPF personnel were certain that he had not come out after jumping in.
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After five hours of searching, Harvinder was finally caught. How he managed to survive in the water for so long remained a question. Police, as per the report, says he may have used lotus stems to breathe while staying hidden beneath the algae-covered surface of the pond.
Thief on wanted list in many states
It later emerged that the thief is wanted in multiple states. Initially, Singh provided a false name and address, but inspector Rajiv Kharb recognised him from a photograph of a wanted criminal stored on his phone since 2018.
According to officials, Singh had previously been an independent corporator in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, where he hails from.
He is also wanted by the Bhopal Government Railway Police in five cases and also faces charges in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, among other states. In 2018, he allegedly carried out a gold and diamond theft worth ₹70 lakh on a train in Visakhapatnam.
He typically targeted AC coaches, hid in toilets to evade ticket checkers, frequently changed SIM cards, and altered his routes every three months. He also never carried any identification documents.
Inspector Kharb said that since Singh’s arrest, he has been receiving calls from as far as Kerala, where Singh is also wanted in a 2024 train theft case.
