31 July,2016 08:14 AM IST | | Santosh Wagh
The women used three monkeys to scare commuters in ladies' and handicapped compartments into giving them money. They were nabbed by Ghatkopar Railway Protection Force
Three young women, who got money out of petrified commuters after threatening to set their monkeys on them, were arrested by the Ghatkopar Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Saturday. These women would only get into the women's and the handicapped compartments of local trains with three monkeys and demand money from scared commuters. On Saturday, they decided to try their luck in the luggage compartment but were caught by the railway police.
The monkeys belonging to Pooja, Sukanta and Heema Ghadge have been handed over to Thane forest officials
Pooja Ghadge (25) Sukanta Ghadge (25) and Heema Ghadge (30) have been charged under various sections of the railway police act, said PSI Brajesh Kumar of the Ghatkopar RPF. Kumar said the women are residents of Kalwa and are related to each other. The monkeys are young, aged around two years. Kumar said, "They bought these monkeys for R2,000 and trained them well."
The police said the three picked the women's and the handicapped compartments as those commuting in them were easy targets. They would start off from Kalwa station and travel till CST. They would walk through the compartments begging and if the women refused to give them anything, they would signal to the monkeys, who would then snarl and bare their teeth.
Kumar said, "The women had trained the monkeys to respond to subtle gestures." He said the control room had received several complaints about these women in the past month alone.
On Saturday morning, they received a call that the women with their monkeys were scaring people in the luggage compartment on a CST train that was approaching Ghatkopar station. As the train halted, Kumar and five other officials told the three women to get down, but the women tried to scare the cops too. Kumar said, "The monkeys were snarling at us, but we managed to arrest all three women."
The monkeys have been handed over to Thane forest officials who will release them there. The police are now investigating whether the women have any criminal background.
