Four held for robbing rail passengers in Maharashtra

Four persons have been arrested by Thane police in Maharashtra for allegedly robbing passengers on the pretext of getting them berths in trains, police said on Thursday.

The accused generally targeted people travelling late night in trains going to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

They would get friendly with such passengers and offer to secure berths for them in trains starting from the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in neighbouring Mumbai, a release from the Kalyan railway police here said.

While taking the gullible victims to LTT through dimly lit areas, the accused used to rob them of their cash, mobile phones and other valuables at knife-point, it said.

The Kalyan railway police received several complaints of robbery using the same modus operandi and launched a probe.

After going through the CCTV footage of various railway stations, the police on Tuesday arrested Mohammad Chand Lulle Khan (23), Afzal Kasim Khan (22), Din Mohammad Ayub Khan (35) and Farman Razzab Khan (24), all living on a footpath in Mumbai's Nagpada area, the police said.

The accused were arrested last year also for similar offences but later secured bail, the release said.

The stolen goods were yet to be recovered from the accused, it said, adding that a probe was underway.