The Government Railway Police (GRP) branch in Mumbai has apprehended a serial thief accused of stealing passengers' bags from long-distance express trains. A total of 21 stolen mobile phones, valued at Rs 4.07 lakh were recovered from his possession.
The accused has been identified as Tufail Raza Akhtar Memon (25), a native of Dhule district who currently resides in Mumbra, Thane. During interrogation, Memon confessed to the crimes and revealed that his addiction to online gaming drove him to commit the thefts.
“He had no stable source of income and would steal valuables such as mobile phones and cash to fund his gaming habit. He used the stolen money to purchase gaming IDs and in-game currency,” an official said.
The investigation began after a complaint was filed by Mahendra Raj Puri (31), a medical shop owner from Pune. On July 10, at around 10:45 PM, Puri was boarding the general coach of train no. 16507 Jodhpur Express from platform number 4 at Kalyan railway station when his side bag containing valuables was stolen amid the rush. A case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Kalyan Railway Police Station.
Acting on a tip-off that Memon would return to Kalyan station on July 15 to commit another theft, police laid a trap. The suspect was nabbed at around 5:35 pm.
Upon his arrest, police recovered 21 mobile phones of various brands, including five Samsung, four Vivo, four Redmi, two Oppo, two Motorola, and five others of different brands.
Explaining the modus operandi, an official stated, “Memon would target sleeping passengers in long-distance mail and express trains. He conducted surveillance commonly known as 'reiki' to identify potential victims. After stealing their belongings, he would disembark at the next station and escape.”
According to GRP, Memon is already facing two theft cases registered at Nashik and Nagar police stations. So far, items recovered from him have been linked to seven theft cases six under the jurisdiction of Kalyan Railway Police and one in Bellary, Karnataka.
