Five held for stealing bags from railway stations

Five people, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly stealing bags from different railway stations in the national capital, police said Friday.

The accused have been identified as Ashwani (26), Aashiq Malik (23), Rajeev Kumar Gupta (37), Irfan (32) and Manju (40), all residents of Delhi, they said.

Recently, police got several cases of passenger bags being lifted from New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamudin, Sarai Rohilla and Anand Vihar railway stations, a senior official said.

During investigation, it was found that the Mandoli-based Bablu gang was involved in such crimes, said Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) Rajiv Ranjan, adding that on Wedenesday, police received a tip-off that the gang would come to Mandoli Extension, Harsh Vihar. At around 4.30 pm, the accused persons were apprehended.

During interrogation, the arrested disclosed that they were from the Bablu gang and have different modules and each module has its fixed role, Ranjan said.

Manju and Bablu pretend as passengers and enter the railway station with platform tickets, the officer said elaborating on the gang's modus operandi.

The duo identify targets with heavy luggage and children. The gang preferred to target passengers in the AC coaches and would strike when the train is about to depart and travellers are busy bidding good bye to their relatives, he said.

When the train picks up speed, they pretend that they have boarded the wrong train and de-board after stealing the bags, Ranjan said.

Around 25 bags containing clothes, laptop, pen drives, jewellery, Rs 95,000 in cash, one revolver and two live cartridges were recovered from the gang's possession, he added.