Railway police nab chain snatcher using technology

In a joint operation, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) managed to nab a 25-year-old man for allegedly snatching a gold chain from a 62-year-old woman passenger on board a train in Mysuru.

According to a complaint lodged with the GRP in Mysuru, Ms. Shashikala, a resident of Kengeri in Bengaluru, was travelling from Mysuru to Kengeri on the Rajya Rani Express when an unidentified man attempted to snatch the gold chain from her neck, minutes after the train departed from the platform in Mysuru at around 2.55 p.m. on February 6.

Though the complainant held on tightly to her necklace, the unidentified person forcibly snatched it and jumped out of the moving train.

Though the complainant managed to save about 10 grams of her necklace, the offender snatched the rest of the gold chain, weighing about 40 grams and valued at around ₹5.5 lakh, before fleeing.

After a case was registered by the GRP, a special team comprising the RPF and its crime intelligence branch was formed to trace the offender.

The team gathered about 200 hours of CCTV footage from multiple strategic locations, including the Mysuru railway station, railway yard and parts of Mysuru city, bus stands and Bengaluru. “Through meticulous examination and systematic analysis of the footage, the movement pattern of the offender was traced,” said a statement from the RPF.

In addition to the CCTV analysis, the team obtained and examined tower dump data from mobile phone service providers of all relevant locations. On detailed scrutiny of mobile location data, one suspected mobile number was identified as a crucial lead, and its call records were collected and analysed, said a source from the RPF.

When the suspected mobile’s location was traced to Pune, Maharashtra, a joint team of the RPF and the GRP was immediately deputed to the city for surveillance.

During surveillance, the suspect attempted to evade detection by frequently changing his location from Pune to Raichur and thereafter to Mysuru. Accordingly, separate teams were deployed simultaneously at multiple locations to ensure his interception, the RPF source said.

“After sustained tracking, coordinated surveillance and timely action, the suspect was ultimately traced and detained at Mysuru city”, the RPF source said.

The suspect has been identified as Moti Lal, 25, a resident of Kyadgere Tanda in Devdurga taluk of Raichur district. “The accused has admitted that he committed the chain snatching incident on February 6,” said the RPF source.

The accused was subsequently produced before the court. Police custody had been obtained for the recovery of the stolen property and for further investigation. The involvement of the accused in similiar cases is also being verified.