31-year-old arrested for posing as railway official, fining women

THE ACCUSED HAD PREVIOUSLY LOOTED WOMEN IN ANDHERI, BHAYANDER & BORIVLI

MUMBAI: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested a 31-yearold man who targeted young women at local stations by pretending to be a railway official and asking them to pay fines.

According to RPF officers, on Saturday, a woman approached their patrolling team on platform No 2 at Borivli station, complaining that a man who claimed to be a railway official had taken ₹2,900 from her.

In her statement, she said the man approached her and demanded to see her ticket when she was on her way to buy one. The impersonator threatened to detain her at the police station and fined her ₹2,900.

The RPF officers, Harvir Singh and Sandip Kumar, sent the woman to the Government Railway Police (GRP) station to file an official complaint. They then scanned CCTV footage at Borivali station and noticed a man in casual clothes talking to a woman. After intercepting him, the complainant confirmed that he was the man who fined her.

RPF officer said the impersonator’s name was Piyush Gyanendra Sharma, a resident of Vasai west, and that he had looted other women in a similar fashion in the past, at Bhayander, Borivli and Andheri.

“Another woman had also registered a similar complaint with the Borivli GRP a few minutes before this complainant. She too identified Sharma and claimed that he had taken ₹1,250 from her,” said an RPF officer. “Sharma used to target women who seemed lost and were unaccompanied.”