The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Western Railway (WR) apprehended four members of the notorious Naidu Gang on Tuesday night. The gang was involved in stealing passengers’ belongings, and stolen goods valued at approximately Rs 2.81 lakh were recovered from them. “The accused were later handed over to the Central Railway authorities for further legal proceedings because the theft occurred near Khandwa Station, which falls under the Central Railways jurisdiction.” said an official.
According to WR, the operation was set in motion around 11:00 PM on February 4, when Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Kulbhushan Singh Chauhan of the RPF Amalner post received information from Central Railway RPF about a theft near Khandwa railway station. CCTV footage analysis revealed that a gang had committed the crime and was frequently changing disguises to evade capture.
The Khandwa RPF also informed their Western Railway counterparts that an FIR had been lodged at the Khandwa GRP police station regarding the theft. They also shared CCTV footage and images of the suspects in various disguises, along with intelligence that the gang had boarded passenger train number 19106 (Bhusawal-Udhna MEMU) after the crime.
Acting swiftly, a special team of three members was formed by RPF WR under leadership of ASI Chauhan, including Head Constable Nandu Patil and Constable Arjun Singh. The team boarded the Bhusawal – Udhana MEMU train at Amalner station and began searching the general coaches. After thoroughly scanning 3-4 coaches, they identified four suspicious individuals.
“To avoid alarming the suspects, the RPF team tactfully surrounded them under the pretext of ticket checking. The suspects were then detained and taken to the RPF post for further questioning” said an official of WR.
Upon interrogation, the detainees identified themselves as, Avinash, son of Maharnanna Naidu, Ajay, son of Maharnanna Naidu Kali, son of Kunnaiya Naidu and Raja, son of Arambam.
They admitted to being members of the infamous Naidu Gang, a group of 8-9 individuals notorious for committing thefts at railway stations and urban areas. The suspects also confessed to their involvement in multiple thefts, including the recent one at Khandwa.
“A search of their belongings led to the recovery of stolen items, including two laptops (Dell and HP), five Android mobile phones (four Samsung, one Vivo), five mobile chargers, two keypad mobile phones (Samsung and Nokia), one BELTON wristwatch, one earphone, cash amounting to Rs 46,600, and two sharp knives.The total value of the recovered items was estimated at Rs 2,81,200 ” said an official of WR.
“Following the successful operation, RPF authorities at Bhusawal, Jalgaon, and Khandwa were informed. A crime branch inspector from the Bhusawal division of Central Railway along with Jalgaon’s sub-inspector and other staff, arrived at the Amalner RPF post. In their presence, all four accused were handed over in proper condition for further legal proceedings” further added official of WR.
