Mumbai Crime: Queue-hopping thief hops straight into Dadar police net

Railway Protection Force Constable BS Tayade (right) with the thief, Ashok Sayappa Mangali

Dadar Railway Protection Force (RPF) Constable BS Tayade is monitoring CCTV footage at Sion Railway Station around 1.55 pm on November 17, when he notices something odd. A man, Ashok Sayappa Mangali, 26. who is just about to reach the ticket window, leaves it and goes to the back of another queue. Cops later find out he was scouting for a victim. Illustrations: Ravi Jadhav

He switches queues five times, when a suspicious Tayade decides to alert the anti-passenger luggage theft staff Head Constable Bharat Mane and Constable JS Kale, who in turn keep a watch on Mangali

Around 2 pm, Mangali is seen following a passenger and just as he is about to board the Titwala slow local that had arrived at platform number 1, Mangali snatches his wallet. Mane and Kale, in co-ordination with Tayade, catch Mangali red-handed

At the RPF office, cops find Rs 2,000 in cash on Mangali and debit cards of several banks. The passenger, Sunil Jamadar, 33, arrives just then and tells cops Mangali had hit him and snatched his wallet as he was boarding a train. He identifies his wallet

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