Railway police track Haryana gang behind train thefts

HYDERABAD: A four-member gang of thieves from Haryana was busy robbing passengers on trains and at railway stations like Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Kacheguda and Nampally for the last one year and and stole Rs 1 crore worth property. The railway police, however, tracked them for several weeks and nailed them finally. The stolen property was recovered on Tuesday and the accused quartet, including an orchestra troupe member, was arrested and sent to judicial remand.

The railway cops of Secunderabad nabbed the accused at the entrance of platform number 1 in Secunderabad railway station in the morning when the gang members were again hatching a plot to rob passengers. During the interrogation, the accused confessed to have committed 23 thefts in Secunderabad, Nampally, Kacheguda and Bangalore stations since 2017.




The accused are: Surender Kumar, 38, a farmer from Sorkhi village in Hisar district, Ramdiya, 45, driver from Sorkhi village, Jagdish, 39, orchestra member from Hisar and Suresh Kumar, 28, driver from Hisar district.

Government Railway Police (GRP) SP, Secunderabad, G Ashok Kumar said the gang members would travel in trains posing as passengers and steal valuables from the bags of passengers by diverting their attention.

Before the train arrives at a major station in Hyderabad or Bengaluru, the accused take out their luggage and block the path to the exit. After blocking the way, the accused offer help to some of the ‘targeted’ passengers. “The gang members offer to pass over the luggage to victims and convince them to move ahead of them. While the victim is busy trying to move towards the exit, the accused quickly open their bags and steal valuables,” GRP SI B Pramod Kumar said.

After receiving 17 theft complaints at Secunderabad police station since 2017, cops started analysing call details of suspects and zeroed in on the accused. After interrogation, the accused confessed that they had committed 13 thefts in Secunderabad, three in Kacheguda, one in Nampally and two in Bengaluru. The accused along with the seized property were produced before the court and sent in judicial remand.