Chain snatcher held by railway police at Panvel

The Government Railway Police (GRP) of Panvel arrested a chain snatcher who would targeted women commuters on Konkan-bound long distance trains. The GRP formed teams to catch the offender who was found loitering on the station platform on the harbour line.

The accused, who was arrested on October 9, has been identified as Umesh Kamble (26) who resides in Sindhudhurg district. At least six cases of chain snatching has already been registered against him. The officials said that he used to travel to the city with the intention of committing the offence of chain snatching.

“Kamble used to loiter around the railway platforms on the harbour line. He used to keep a watch on women commuters boarding long distance trains on the same line. Kamble used to snatch the chain from the women commuters seated near the window,” said Samadhan Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, GRP, central railway.

The officials said that Kamble used to commit the offence when the train was about the leave the particular railway station. “Kamble never boarded the trains to commit the offence. He used to commit the offence by waiting on the platform alone,” added Pawar.

The railway police officials caught the offender after scanning the Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) installed at stations on the harbour line. “We caught the offender after laying a trap on him. We recovered gold chain worth Rs 3 lakh from the offender. During interrogation, the accused revealed that he committed the offence to splurging on luxurious items,” added Pawar.

The Panvel GRP has arrested the accused under the section of 379 for theft and section 356 for assault or using criminal force for committing theft. Kamble has remanded to police custody for further interrogation.