Man held for stealing from women commuters

The railway crime branch arrested a habitual robber on Monday, who would rob women commuter of their valuables on long distance and local trains. The Government Railway Police (GRP) has registered at least six cases of robbery against the accused in Mumbai division.

The robber has been identified as Sharanappa Walekar and is a resident of Karnataka’s Gulbarga district. The railway police officials said that he used to arrive in the city with an intention to rob valuables from women commuters travelling in long distance trains and local trains.

“Walekar used to commit the crime of robbery after first conducting a ‘recce’ on long distance trains leaving from Dadar and Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). He boarded the long distance trains at early morning 4am in order to commit the offence. Walekar was known to snatch purses carried by woman commuters on long distance trains,” said a railway police official.

The railway police officials said that they also received information about pickpocketing cases against Walekar. “Walekar used to enter the compartments of the long distance trains before the train left the platform. The accused was known to commit the crime of pickpocketing in crowded local trains,” added the official.

The officials said that Walekar committed the robbery in order to splurge on alcohol.

“We recovered valuables worth Rs 3 lakh from the accused. Our team used the photograph of Walekar and visited his home town where we arrested him,” said the official.