3 held for stealing mobile phones in trains; 30 devices seized

Thane, Aug 26 (PTI) Police here have arrested three persons for allegedly stealing mobile phones of train passengers and seized 30 gadgets valued at Rs 4.06 lakh from them, officials said on Tuesday.

The arrests were made on Sunday while the police were conducting a probe into a case of theft of a passenger's mobile phone in January 2024, they said.

The accused used to target passengers in express trains while they were asleep and steal their mobile phones, Thane Government Railway Police's senior inspector Vijay Khedkar said.

"We received one such complaint on January 25, 2024, from a 25-year-old passenger who was travelling to Varanasi by the Mahanagari Express in an AC coach. His phone was stolen between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT-in south Mumbai) and Thane stations," he said.

"We followed several leads and eventually received a tip-off suggesting the involvement of three individuals from Madhya Pradesh. They were identified as Shankar Nirmal Shah (33), Dhananjay Omprakash Shukla (28), and Mohammad Afzal Jahir Ahmed Ansari (24)," the official said.

Even as the investigation was underway, the police received another input that the three suspects were planning to strike again.

"We learnt that the accused were going to come to Thane station for another theft. Accordingly, our team laid a trap on the eastern side of the station on Sunday. As the suspects arrived, they were apprehended," the official said.

After nabbing the accused, the police searched a bag carried by Ansari and found 30 stolen mobile phones in it, he said.

A probe was on to find out if the accused were involved in other thefts aboard trains, and efforts were also underway to trace the owners of the recovered phones, the official said. PTI COR GK