Railway police teams nab laptop thief

A joint team comprising personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) nabbed a person accused of stealing a laptop bag containing a laptop and headphones on board the Chandigarh-Yesvantpur Express train on March 4.

A statement issued by the Mysuru Division of South Western Railway said the offender involved in the theft was apprehended at Arsikere and the stolen electronic items worth ₹1.15 lakh were recovered from him on March 10.

The case originated from a complaint lodged by Chandragowda Patil, a resident of Haveri district, who reported that his laptop bag had been stolen while he was travelling on the Chandigarh-Yesvantpur Express Train No. 22686 on March 4. The passenger noticed that his bag, which contained a laptop, headphones, and his company ID card, had gone missing from Coach S-2 as the train approached the Yesvantpur station.

CCTV footage

A special team was constituted to investigate the case, and a detailed examination of the CCTV footage of Coach S-2 was conducted on the day of the incident.

“During the scrutiny, officials identified a suspicious individual seen lifting the passenger’s bag. The CCTV footage was promptly shared with the RPF and GRP units, which enabled the authorities to launch a joint search operation to trace the suspect,” the statement said.

On March 10, based on credible intelligence, the joint team carried out surveillance at Arsikere Railway Station. “At around 9.45 a.m., when Vasco Da Gama–Yesvantpur Express arrived at the station, the suspect was intercepted by the officials,” the statement said.

The accused has been identified as Sangamesh G., 20, a resident of Davangere district. During the interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime. Based on his voluntary statement, the GRP recovered the stolen items.

A case has been registered against the accused under Section 305(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and he was produced before the JMFC court in Channarayapatna, which remanded him to 14 days judicial custody.

“The timely coordination between RPF and GRP personnel played a crucial role in solving the case within a few days of the complaint and ensured the recovery of the stolen property”, said the press statement.