CHENNAI: The city police arrested a 30-year-old man from Rajasthan who targeted gullible passengers at Central railway station and escaped with their mobile phones and sold them at a mobile phone shop in Triplicane.
The shop owner, who took the phones despite knowing they were stolen, was arrested too. The police have recovered 22 mobile phones and one laptop from the accused.
Periamet police began investigations based on a complaint from P Amit Koliya (28) of Uttarakhand, who was working as a crane operator at construction sites.
On May 9, Amit had come to Central railway station to board a suburban train to Tiruvallur for work when the accused approached Amit, claiming that he would help Amit to book a train ticket on his phone. Within a matter of seconds, the accused diverted Amit's attention and escaped with the phone.
Investigations by Periamet police revealed that the accused, Ramdayalan Lakhra (30), of Bikaner, Rajasthan targeted passengers at Central railway station for the last three months. Lakhra stole phones from passengers who sleep on the platforms to board long-distance trains and also approached gullible passengers under the pretext of helping them book tickets on their phones and stole phones.
Lakhra led police to the mobile shop owner, Noushand Ali (35), of Kerala, who bought the phones from the accused. The police said that Ramdayalan Lakhra already has two cases against him. Both the accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.