Mumbai man jumps off train to chase snatcher, identifies him through CCTV to get phone back

Losing a phone on a train from Mumbai’s Byculla to Currey Road, chasing the robber, identifying the man through CCTV footage and getting the phone back within five hours — it was all in a day’s work for Kalyan resident Akshay Gaikwad, 29, on Wednesday.

Losing a phone on a train from Mumbai’s Byculla to Currey Road, chasing the robber, identifying the man through CCTV footage and getting the phone back within five hours — it was all in a day’s work for Kalyan resident Akshay Gaikwad, 29, on Wednesday.

The accused, Rajique Altaf Shaikh (pictured), has been arrested several times since 2013. (HT Photo)

According to government railway police (GRP) officers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Gaikwad was travelling from Currey Road to CSMT. As he reached Byculla station around 1pm, he got a call from his manager on his phone worth ₹7,000 asking him to return to his office at Currey Road.

In a rush, Gaikwad got off the train and boarded another one in the opposite direction, while still speaking to his manager. As the train started to move, the man sitting next to him snatched his mobile phone and got off.

Quick to respond, Gaikwad got off the train within seconds and started to chase him. He ran after the man through the length of the platform, as dozens of commuters watched. “The two men just zoomed past us,” said Nihar Sethi, 25, a resident of Thane, who was waiting for a fast train on platform number three of Byculla station.

Gaikwad followed him out of the station for at least a km, but the man escaped in the bylanes. “I searched for long, but could not spot him,” said Gaikwad, who then approached CSMT GRP and registered a case against the unidentified robber.

Gaikwad then accompanied the police officers to the spot and showed them the route through which the man fled. As officers got the CCTV recordings of the area, Gaikwad sat with the police, and helped them find the accused. “We identified the man as Rajique Altaf Shaikh, 24, who has been arrested several times since 2013. He was released from jail early this year,” said Hemant Bawdhankar, senior inspector of CSMT GRP.

GRP and railway police force (RPF) officers traced Shaikh and arrested him from his house at Byculla. They recovered Gaikwad’s mobile phone, which he was planning to sell, the next day. “Shaikh has been arrested for theft and assault under sections 379 and 356 of the IPC,” said Bawdhankar.

“We are just grateful that Akshay didn’t suffer any injuries,” said Yojana Gaikwad, the commuter’s mother.