Pickpocket wanted in 12 cases caught in Mumbai Metro

Mumbai: A pickpocket with nearly two dozen cases on Mumbai`s congested suburban railway system behind him was finally nabbed after he dodged detection for a year, an official said here on Tuesday.

Ganesh Gangurade, a mall employee in Thane, complained that on the morning of September 16 his wallet containing Rs 10,000 in cash and some personal documents was picked from his backpack at the Ghatkopar Metro Station.

The Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) security swung into action to help him lodge a complaint with Chirag Nagar police station and also pored over CCTV footage to track the pickpocket.

After a close scrutiny, the Metro security finally zeroed in on the suspect who was in the vicinity of the 25-year-old Gangurade at that time.

The suspect`s profile and a lookout notice was circulated among the Metro security and finally on Monday morning, the culprit was apprehended.

After a thorough check, the 30-year-old suspect, Mahendra Kumar Gupta, was detained and questioned by Metro security staff, following which he broke down and confessed to his crimes.

A resident of Panvel in adjoining Raigad district, Gupta admitted to having picked pockets of over two dozen victims in the past one year or so on the Mumbai suburban railway network.

He has been handed over to Mumbai police for further action.

"We accord the highest priority to the safety and security of our passengers and their belongings. The fact that the suspect was caught... makes it clear that MMOPL is not safe for pickpockets," an official spokesperson said.

On all the 12 stations on the city`s first Metro railway between Versova-Ghatkopar, 750 CCTVs have been installed.