Shubham Singh would ride 12 km from his house to Virar station to target commuters. Pic/Hanif Patel
A 24-year-old chain snatcher was arrested on Tuesday by RPF personnel after a chase in Virar, during which, thinking he had given the police the slip, he stopped to refill his motorcycle and was caught.
The accused, Shubham Rajendra Singh alias Chikna, is a history-sheeter who would target commuters at Virar station. "On November 20, Chikna came to Virar and discreetly entered the station to reach platform no 6. He snatched a gold chain worth Rs 85,000 from Sandesh Kadam who was heading to work in Andheri," said an RPF personnel.
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Though the victim tried to chase Chikna, he managed to escape. A robbery case was registered at Vasai GRP and a crime prevention and detection squad was activated.
RPF personnel took grabs of CCTV footage from the station in which Chikna was seen being chased by the victim. "We circulated the grabs to our network and learnt that the accused is a history-sheeter against whom five cases of chain/mobile snatching are registered at Vasai GRP. We got his residence address which is 12 km from the railway station," said an RPF official.
A team of RPF personnel including Rajan Kumar, Mukesh Tyagi and Prakash Nautiyal headed to his house but Chikna was not at home. The team camped there for three days but the accused was still not found.
On November 24, the accused was seen riding his motorcycle in Virar. Police said after seeing the RPF personnel, Chikna sped away, and probably thought he had evaded them. He then ran out of fuel. The RPF personnel who had been chasing Chikna for around 3 km, saw him take a turn towards a petrol pump on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway.
"Our team waited for Chikna to switch off the ignition and get off his vehicle at the petrol pump. The moment he got off, one of our staff caught him by the collar and brought him to Virar railway station. Later, he was handed over to Vasai GRP," said the RPF officer.
The cops are yet to recover the gold chain which the accused has sold to a jewellery shop owner, who is at large, said the officer.
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