Mangalore/Kannur: Youngsters who were indulged in stealing jewellery from passengers in trains were taken into custody. Mirzapur natives Abhay Raj Singh (26) and Harishankar Giri (25) were taken into custody from Mangalore by a special team of RPF on Monday night. Almost 9 ornaments were recovered from the duo. In total, the 16 sovereigns of gold will be worth around Rs 6 lakhs in the market. The accused were handed over to Mangalore police.   

The regular offenders majorly operated during nights inside the trains running on the Thiruvananthapuram-Goa routes. While they stole an anklet of a lady passenger in Nizamuddin express from Kayamkulam on September 2, they siphoned off jewellery of another woman travelling in Okha express the very next day. The recurring incidents forced the RPF to form a special team to nab the culprits.

The CCTV visuals retrieved from Kayamkulam and the tips provided by the victims helped the police nab the thieves. The rest of the members in the robbery gang are expected to be arrested soon. The investigation was led by Palakkad RPF assistant security commissioner Sanjay Panicker.

The culprits are known to have a luxurious modus operandi. The thieves who board their flights at Uttar Pradesh, land in Goa to get into their business. They travel up and down the Goa-Thiruvananthapuram stretch by train carrying out thefts during night. Preliminary investigations suggest that the culprits were indulged in similar crimes in other parts of the country as well. The duo were apprehended by the RPF at the airport while they were trying to flee with the stolen ornaments.