3 women held for stealing in trains

The railway police in the Andheri area has arrested three women, who hail from West Bengal in connection with mobile phone and purse stealing cases in the local trains.

These women were produced at a local court and the court remanded them in police custody till March, 24. According to sources, the police has seized as many as 14 mobiles from these women worth Rs 2 lakh.

Officials suspect these women are repeat offenders and have committed several crimes of snatching and robbery in different parts of the country. Officials said the women were not cooperating with the police in the investigation.

Officials from the Andheri railway police station informed The Asian Age that they have seized as many as 14 mobiles of which six were claimed by different people. According to the official, all the mobiles were stolen by these women in local trains on the Western line.

These women have been identified as Parveen Begum Sameer Ahmed Khan (28), Shabbu Begum Rajesh Shaeikh (27), Afsana Begum Murtiza Shaikh (26), all residents of Kolkata, West Bengal. All these women were booked by the police under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code.

Deepak Devraj, DCP (WR), railway protection force (RPF), said that on March 20, around 3 pm, a few railway police officials were on routine patrolling on platform number three of the Andheri railway station, when they noticed three women moving about in a suspicious manner.

When the officials tried to approach them, the women tried to avoid them, so they were detained. Later after conducting a personal search, the officials found two mini purses and Rs 2,500, along with the keys of a lodge.

After arresting the women, officials visited the Sabina lodge in the Dongri area in South Mumbai, keys to which were found in the purse. In a search conducted in the lodge room, officials found as many as 15 mobiles in a bag.

Later, when they inquired with the women about the mobiles, they confessed that they had stolen them from women passengers of second-class compartment of Mumbai locals.

The manager of the lodge informed the police officials that these women had checked into the lodge on March 17.

An official informed this newspaper that the modus operandi of this gang was unique. First, one of them would start talking to their target to divert her attention and then one of the others would steal the mobile or purse from their handbag. Now, officials suspect these women travel to different cities to commit crimes, and are trying to track their records.