Railway protection force (RPF) officials from Satara have arrested three men for committing dacoities on trains by interfering with railway signals and wrongfully halting trains. The three are suspected to be involved in at least 15 of 36 cases filed with the police and being investigated.
The three arrested men have been identified as Rohit Gorakh Rarebhat, Vinod Sakharam Jadhav and Babu Mohan Kasbe, all residents of Jamkhed, Aurangabad, RPF officials said, adding that RPF inspector Ajay Sansare of Satara collected data from 36 similar incidents at various places, including seven each in Kurduwadi, Guntakal, Nanded (Parbhani and Latur), six in Konkan, four each in Satara and Bhusawal, and one in Hubli.
“He collected tower data from the incident areas and approached the government rural police in Nashik. They raided two places and found the three in the second raid (carried out on Sunday night)," said assistant DSC BK Makraria.
"They belong to a tribe that do not maintain a steady base, therefore, it becomes that much more difficult to catch them," said D Vikas, senior divisional security commissioner (DSC), RPF, Pune. "They used mobile applications to track the train timings and positions," he added.
On September 13, a case of attempted dacoity after signal cutting was recorded at Palshi railway station. While the attempt failed, the dacoits pelted stones at the passengers.
{{/usCountry}}On September 13, a case of attempted dacoity after signal cutting was recorded at Palshi railway station. While the attempt failed, the dacoits pelted stones at the passengers.
{{/usCountry}}With the help of Nashik GRP and Mumbai police crime branch, the RPF found four phone numbers including two that belong to a father-son duo with a history of railway-related crimes. Even as the police have not arrested the two, they have received information that the two manage a gang of 10-12 youngsters from their community. "Some of them were nominated to collect information regarding trains and conduct reconnaissance of the scene. All were travelling by car and would park the cars about 2km from the place of offence," a statement from the RPF reads.
The police recovered a Swift and a Bajaj Pulsar from the three. The three were handed over to Nashik police and were remanded to police custody by a local court.