Railway police identified the thief using footage from CCTV cameras in the station
Most thieves are known to run. This one lies down.
The Government Railway Police in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura station received several theft complaints from passengers over the past few days. Some passengers found their phones missing, some complained that they lost other valuable items.
Determined to get to the bottom of this, the station's GRP in-charge Sandeep Tomar started scanning CCTV footage from the many cameras on the station premises. What he saw evoked surprise and awe in equal measure.
The camera inside the passengers' waiting room showed some sleeping passengers. The footage does not stand out till one of them moves. The man looks around, apparently to check if someone's watching. Someone stretches legs. The man waits. Then, it's all clear. The man turns to his right, moves his right hand to the pocket of a sleeping passenger, his eyes constantly watching for any sign of trouble. There are multiple tries as he tries to fish out the cellphone peeking out of the pocket, and he finally succeeds.
One target achieved, the man moves to the next one. He shifts his position to lie down right next to another passenger. He looks around to make sure he is not being watched. Then, lying on his left, he goes for the passenger's pocket and pulls a phone out. He then gets up and leaves the waiting room with his loot.
The culprit identified, railway police did not waste time in catching him. Twenty-one-year-old Avnish Singh, a resident of Etah district, was arrested yesterday. A mobile phone was recovered from him, and police said he has admitted to stealing five phones. Avnish now faces a case of theft and police are working to recover the stolen items.