Pramesh S Jain
Following a theft case reported in February this year,the Railway police kept a close watch for over four months before zeroing in on a 37-year-old vehicle dealer from Uttarakhand involved in stealing valuables from the train passengers for the last over five years.
The accused,Jitendra Kumar Chawla,according to the police was so far involved in 17 theft cases across India four in the state .
He was also involved in stealing 200 grams of gold valuables from Shivananda Shivayogi swami, of Kodi mutt in Arasikere while he was traveling in train in June 2018.
Based on the complaint reported in February regarding a theft of valuables worth Rs.65,000 along with other documents from a passenger identified as Shankar Rao Kulkarni,Superintendent of Police,Railways,Soumyalatha SK,formed a special team and given them task to track down the accused .
The special team of police gathered CCTV footage and identified the accused but he was on the move.The police shared the pic,physical description and other identifications with their counterparts across the state to keep an eye .
After four months of pursuit the police finally nabbed the accused red handed while he was travelling in a train to identify his prey.
The police have recovered 281 grams of gold valuables worth Rs.22.7 lakh from the four cases reported in the railway station.
The accused was involved in over 17 cases in different state and the railway police have approached their counterparts to alert them about Chawla’s arrest.
The accused was alcoholic and into gambling and pawned the valuables and spent the money on expensive liquor and gambling in casinos in Goa,which is his favourite place,the officer,said.
