The Kotwali police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) have busted a gang of snatchers allegedly targeting rail passengers by snatching their mobile phones.
During the joint operation, the police arrested a key member of the gang and recovered seven mobile phones. Several gang members had already been identified.
Now, the police will present the suspect in a court and obtain his remand to trace other gang members and those who purchased stolen mobile phones from them.
ADCP-1 Sameer Verma while addressing a press conference said the suspect was identified as Shiv Kumar, alias Shibu (38), of Ram Nagar, Jamalpur. He works at a hosiery factory. The police investigation revealed that the gang members used to wait for trains to slow down on outer tracks of the railway line. When the suspects spot passengers on train doors, they snatch their mobiles with a stick and flee the scene.
ADCP Verma, who was accompanied by Kotwali SHO Paramvir Singh and RPF inspector Yudhvir Singh, said there were frequent complaints of snatchings from railway passengers.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect has five cases of robbery and other criminal offences registered against him since 2017 and he was out on bail.
About 24 days ago, Sumit, a resident of Ghagaria, Bihar, was standing at the door of a moving train near the Dhandhari railway station. A man standing outside hit him with a stick and snatched his mobile phone. The passenger jumped from the train to chase the snatcher, but he fled the scene. The victim suffered injuries on his right arm and forehead.
