Two persons have been arrested for allegedly stealing valuables worth Rs 22.24 lakh from passengers of long-distance trains between Thane, Kalyan and Karjat, railway police officials said on Thursday, reported news agency PTI.

The accused have been identified as Waqar Alam Tauqir Khan (39) and Jugal Kishore Omprakash Sharma (41) from Ghazipur and Kanpur, respectively, in Uttar Pradesh, the Kalyan railway police official said, reported PTI.

“The duo, posing as passengers, targeted sleeping travelers at night, stealing cash, jewellery and valuables, before fleeing at halts or when the trains slowed down at stations like Karjat, Thane or Kalyan. We have seized gold ornaments weighing 316 grams and Rs 72,000 cash,” he said, reported PTI.

The probe began in May when a passenger of the Coimbatore-Rajkot Express was robbed of jewellery and cash worth Rs 3.6 lakh, following which an FIR was registered at Kalyan railway police station.

“CCTV footage from multiple railway stations and records of past thefts suggested the crimes bore a similar modus operandi, pointing towards a single gang. Acting on a tip-off, senior inspector Vijay Khedkar and his team kept watch at Kalyan railway station, leading to Khan and Sharma getting apprehended,” the official said, reported PTI.

The duo has confessed to 16 thefts, comprising eight under Kalyan railway police station limits, four in Thane, three in Karjat, and one in Dombivli, he added.

Man arrested for stealing cash from temple donation box

In another case, Dombivli police has arrested a 25-year-old man hours after he allegedly broke into a temple in the district and stole cash from the donation box, reported PTI.

Police also recovered Rs 37,000 from Sambhaji Ram Birajdar, the accused, said an official. The arrest was made within four hours after the crime came to light, he said.

On Tuesday morning, devotees found the lock of the Gavdevi temple at Ayre village broken and donation box overturned with cash missing, reported PTI.

CCTV footage showed a young man, wearing a red hoodie jacket, arriving in an auto rickshaw and breaking the lock of the temple`s main door with a sharp object.

Birajdar, a resident of the nearby Tukaramnagar area, was quickly identified as the culprit and arrested, the police official said. The rickshaw used in the crime was also seized and further probe was on, he added, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)

This article first appeared on Mid Day