Aspiring actor arrested for chain-snatching in trains

Mumbai: The crime branch of the railway police has arrested a small-time Bollywood aspirant in connection with at least 16 chain robberies after he took to crime to sustain himself in Mumbai. The police said that the accused is a native of Uttar Pradesh and used to target elderly women commuters travelling in outstation trains.

The accused has been identified as Mohammad Saif Azgar (32), who resides at Dharavi’s 90 Feet road while originally hailing from Ghaziabad in UP. The officials said that the accused came to Mumbai a couple of years ago to try his luck in the Hindi film industry. The officials said that he faced financial problems and subsequently began to rob elderly women to make a living.

“Azgar would enter outstation trains and look for aged women wearing gold ornaments. He would snatch their chains and flee from the train. Most of his crimes were committed in the jurisdiction of the Panvel railway police,” said an officer of the railway crime branch.

After several such cases were reported, many police teams were formed. The investigators scanned the CCTV camera footage and found that one of the clips had captured his face. The crime branch officials circulated the picture and tracked him down, following a specific tip-off.

Following his arrest, the accused revealed the name of one Sabir Shaikh (37), a gold worker who liquefied the stolen gold for Azgar. The police also arrested Shaikh and booked him in the case for aiding the accused.