Navi Mumbai: Two days after a 19-year-old MBBS student was robbed and pushed off a local train in Juinagar, CCTV footage revealed that the accused had been trying to find his target from Panvel, and repeatedly kept changing trains until he found Rutuja Bodake travelling alone in the ladies compartment.
The Vashi railway police said the accused had first boarded a second class general compartment of a Vashi-bound train at Panvel. He got down at CBD-Belapur, and then boarded another train and again alighted at Seawoods. “At Seawoods, he walked up to the ladies compartment and found Ms. Bodake alone,” inspector K.K. Kadam from Vashi GRP said.
“We suspect that the accused is a resident of Turbhe or Juinagar. There was no CCTV cameras outside Juinagar station, and hence we don’t know which direction he went. We are getting his clear image from the CCTV footage we have, and our technical team is on it,” Mr. Kadam said.
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The case against the accused is registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 397 (robbery with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), and 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft of property) of the IPC, and Section 162 (entering carriage or other place reserved for females) of the Railways Act.
On Saturday, Ms. Bodake was coming from Baroda to meet her parents, who live in sector 1, Vashi. After getting down at Panvel, she boarded a Vashi-bound local at 11.32 p.m.
The accused threatened Ms. Bodake to hand over her valuables and she gave away her mobile phones, earrings, and a bag with ₹2,500 in cash and clothes. Valuables worth ₹38,500 were robbed by the accused.
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When the train was approaching Juinagar, Ms. Bodake tried to snatch back her valuables and in the struggle, the accused pushed her off the train. She fell onto the platform.
She then boarded another train to Vashi and narrated the incident to her father, Dilip Bodake, a High Court lawyer. They filed a complaint.