Four men snatched the mobile phone and wallet of a welder on a CST-bound train; a railway constable heard the commotion and nabbed three of the accused
An alert railway police constable single-handedly nabbed three men who had tried to rob a welder and pushed him off a CST-bound train on Saturday.
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Representational pic
Constable R G Lokare was travelling in the adjacent compartment and when he heard the victim's screams, he rushed to the luggage compartment to help. The train had stopped and Lokare was able to nab three of the accused. The fourth accomplice managed to run away.
The police have arrested the three, Ayub Khan (20), Mohammad Shaikh (19) and Albaaz Shaikh (18) — all residents of Dharavi.
The fight
Ravindra Gizam, a resident of Nallasopara, is a welder by profession. He was to meet his friend Vishal at Sandhurst Road. At 11:20 pm, Gizam, who had his welding equipment with him, took a slow train from Byculla to Sandhurst Road and entered the luggage compartment.
Gizam started talking on his mobile phone when the train left Byculla station.
Police said that is when the four accused tried to snatch the phone. They also physically assaulted Gizam and tried to take money from his pocket, but he fought back. During the fight, he fell down from the running train into a nullah.
Constable Lokare, who was travelling in the ladies compartment next to the luggage compartment, heard the commotion and when the train halted at Sandhurst Road, immediately caught three of the accused single handedly.
Lokare later also went to the spot where Gizam had fallen and rushed him to J J Hospital.
Speaking to mid-day, Gizam, (24), said, “I was planning to go home from work, but I got a call from a friend and so I was going to meet him. When I got into the train I saw those four people talking and looking at me. I was talking to someone on my phone. Suddenly they grabbed my phone, then two of them held me tight and another put his hand in my pocket that had around Rs 5,000. I tried very hard to fight back but they pushed me off the train. They had threatened to throw me off if I didn't give them the money.”
Police speak
A police inspector from CST Railway Police station said, “Gizam has a few injuries on his hand, back and legs. He is recovering. We are on the lookout for the fourth accused and he will soon be arrested.”
All the four accused have been booked under Sections 379 (theft) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC.
The three accused have been remanded to police custody till January 7.