RPF solves gold heist case in quick time

Jewellery worth ₹5 crore recovered from the accused

Gold and cash recovered from the accused by the RPF, in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

In a swift action, the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Vijayawada division, in coordination with the Chennai police detected a gold heist case that occurred in the Tamil Nadu capital, and recovered jewellery worth about ₹5 crore from the suspects.

They arrested two siblings – Hansraj Singh and Harvendra Singh of Madurai — travelling in the Madurai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Sampark Kranti Express, in Vijayawada, and recovered the booty, including ₹40,000 cash.

RPF Senior Divisional Security Commissioner S.R. Gandhi told

The Hindu the duo committed theft in the house of Santosh, a trader, at Old Washermenpet in Chennai on January 7.

Following a complaint, the Korukkupet police registered the case and special teams headed by Chennai Additional Commissioner of Police Dinakaran and Joint Commissioner of Police Premanand Sinha swung into action.

Unscheduled halt

Santosh said that Hansraj was working in the trader’s house for the last few months, and had gone missing after the theft. Police, who observed the CCTV footage confirmed that Hansraj was one among the two persons involved in the crime. Investigation officers, who tracked the mobile phones of the accused, noticed that the duo had boarded the train, and alerted the RPF personnel in Vijayawada.

“Mr. Premanand Singh spoke to me over the phone and accordingly, we formed three teams. On our request, the South Central Railway officials arranged unscheduled halt for the train at Tenali, where the police personnel in mufti boarded the train and identified the thieves in a general compartment,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Team work

The RPF police clicked the photographs of the accused without their knowledge and forwarded them to the Chennai police, who made positive identification.

“We deployed police force at the Vijayawada station and apprehended the duo on Tuesday. The stolen property was recovered intact. This is the biggest recovery made by the RPF in the Indian Railways in the last few years,” Mr. Gandhi said and thanked the SCR authorities for their cooperation.

The two suspects were handed over to Chennai police for further investigation on Wednesday, the Senior Divisional Security Commissioner added.