In a joint operation by Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF), a man, who has allegedly committed nine thefts involving the estimated loot of more than ₹10 lakh, was nabbed here on Wednesday.
The offender has been identified as Biswajit Khosla (25), native of Koraput district in Odisha. According to RPF Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Jitendra Shrivastava, the accused has allegedly been lifting personal belongings of train passengers since March last year. He has allegedly been committing the crimes in running trains between Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
Describing his modus operandi, RPF inspector P.S. Rao said the he would board trains that start from Vizag and target isolated customers. “Khosla would wait for the passengers to go out to fetch a water bottle or to the toilet. He would steal items such as laptops, bags and cellphones and move to another coach. After travelling a distance, he would get down from the train,” said Mr. Rao.
After receiving a series of complaints, the GRP and the RPF had increased surveillance and acting on field inputs and CCTV footage, the joint team nabbed him on Wednesday. “We have seized six laptops and three cellphones from Khosla. Further investigation is on,” said Mr. Shrivastava.
