Siblings nabbed in train theft case, ₹84.50 lakh cash recovered

In a joint operation, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) cracked a major theft case, in which ₹87 lakh was stolen from the Rayagada Express train.

Police arrested siblings, B. Ashok Kumar and B. Lalith Babu, natives of Dugireddypalem village, Prakasam district on Monday, and recovered ₹84.50 lakh cash from them said GRP Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) G. Ratna Raju.

Disclosing details to the media, the DSP said: “The accused Ashok Kumar, had stolen the bag containing cash when the victim, Bezawada Nagaraju, was asleep in the train. Mr. Nagaraju, a poultry farm manager, had boarded the Rayagada Express train at Visakhapatnam on October 31, he noticed the bag containing cash missing at Vijayawada railway station."

GRP, Vijayawada Circle Inspector J.V. Ramana, registered a case. With the help of RPF inspector Fateh Ali Baig, they analysed CCTV footages and call data, they spotted a masked person wearing a cap alighting from the train on Platform No.1.

During investigation, it was revealed that Ashok Kumar, working as a reporter in a private news channel, committed theft with the help of his brother, Lalith Babu, who was working at a poultry farm.

The GRP and the RPF teams arrested the accused at Vijayawada railway station while they were trying to escape to Chennai, said Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Shanmuga Vadivel and Assistant Security Commissioner Ponnysamy.

To evade police, the accused used various modes of transport — auto, van and RTC buses and travelled to Ponnuru, Chirala and Ongole. They also changed their mobile numbers and SIM cards, said Superintendent of Railway Police Rahul Dev Singh, who monitored the investigations.