After chasing a mobile robber for more than 15 minutes over foot overbridges (FOB) and vacant railway tracks, Wadala Government Railway Police (GRP) officers arrested a 23-year-old mobile thief. A day before committing the crime, the accused, identified as Saidul Yusuf Shaikh, was just released from jail after serving time for robbery.

According to Rajendra Pal, senior police inspector of Wadala GRP, on Friday at 9.55am, 35-year-old Kashiram Hakke, a resident of Mankhurd was on his way to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus from Kurla station.

Hakke was standing on the footboard of the compartment when the train stopped at Wadala station. Shaikh, who was standing on the platform, grabbed Hakke’s shirt and removed his mobile phone that he had kept in his pocket. When Hakke realised that he was robbed, he raised an alarm. However, by that time, the train had already begun moving and Shaikh started running in the opposite direction.

Pal said that on hearing Hakke’s shouts, the patrolling staff at the platform rushed in the direction of the train. The constables spotted Shaikh climbing the FOB and chased him. For 15 minutes, the constables chased Shaikh across the bridge and the vacant tracks till they caught him about 2km from the station.

On arresting Shaikh, the police found out that he had been externed from the area previously and had been arrested for robbery six months ago and sentenced to jail. The officer said the accused had been released on Thursday. “We have arrested Shaikh on the charge of robbery and will present him before the court. We will also attach his history with the charge sheet so that he gets a longer jail term,” said Pal.

First Published: Apr 08, 2019 08:44 IST