Amalvasanth Joseph (32), to most people, led a quiet life, working in a photocopier shop in Potheri, an extended suburb in the southern part of the city. However, he also worked overtime at another ‘career’ — travelling in crowded suburban trains and stealing laptops kept on overhead baggage racks by careless owners.
The suspect’s run came to an end when he was picked up by policemen on Monday. Following his arrest, Government Railway Police, Tambaram recovered 25 laptops allegedly stolen by him from suburban trains over the past 18 months.
Elaborating, railway policemen said they were acting on a complaint from a third-year engineering student, who had lost his laptop while travelling in a suburban train between Chromepet and Potheri on August 9.
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Based on data from CCTV footage from the railway stations, the police identified and detained Amalvasanth. During interrogation, he confessed to having stolen 60 laptops.
Based on his confession, they recovered 25 laptops, 20 of them from Mohammed Ismail of Guduvanchery and Dharmaraj of Maduravoyal to whom he had sold them. The other five laptops had also been sold to various individuals.
The value of the recovered laptops was Rs. 12 lakh, V. Ponram, deputy superintendent of police, Railways, said.
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Action will also be taken against Mohammed Ismail, Dharmaraj and those who had received the stolen laptops. Efforts are on to recover the rest of the stolen goods.