Kolkata, February 23 – The Government Railway Police (GRP) have successfully apprehended a wanted criminal who had been consistently committing thefts on trains while posing as a police officer, according to sources on Monday.
According to the GRP, the suspect would steal by claiming to be searching passengers' bags and other belongings while wearing a police uniform, and then escape. However, the suspect got into trouble after stealing a doctor's bag, along with his MBBS certificate and other important documents.
Following this, the wanted suspect, Sanjay Byapari, was arrested by the Naihati GRP officers on Sunday based on CCTV footage. He is originally from Chinaurah in the Hooghly district, but had recently been staying in the Naihati area of the North 24 Parganas district.
Police said that Sanjay has been committing crimes on trains in various ways. Sometimes he would steal passengers' bags while pretending to be a porter, sometimes a vendor, and most of the time as a police officer. He would steal mobile phones and other valuable items from passengers' bags.
According to police sources, recently, Sanjay, dressed in khaki uniform, introduced himself as a railway police constable and boarded the Balia Express bound for Sealdah.
The complainant doctor had boarded the train from the Bandel station in the Hooghly district on his way to Kolkata. He had Rs 600 in cash in his bag. But he also had various important documents, including his MBBS certificate and work identity card.
The doctor placed his bag on the bunk as soon as he boarded the train. From the Bandel station, the accused Sanjay Byapari boarded the train and started keeping an eye on the passengers' bags while pretending to be a police officer. He also searched one or two bags. Since he was wearing a police uniform, none of the passengers suspected him. Taking advantage of this, the notorious suspect snatched the doctor's bag from the train and got off at the Naihati station. Before getting off at the Sealdah station, the doctor realized that his bag was missing.
Other passengers told him that the 'police officer' had got off at the Naihati station with a bag. The doctor filed a zero FIR with the Sealdah GRP. The complaint was sent to the Naihati GRP. Based on that, the CCTV footage of the Naihati station was examined.
"It was seen that Sanjay was walking out with the bag, dressed in a police uniform. After that, a search was started. The police searched various areas of Naihati and finally, the wanted criminal was arrested. He is being interrogated to find out how many times he has committed such a crime," said a GRP official.