Title - Five of a gang held for robbing six trains in last two months

PUNE: Five members of a gang have been arrested so far in connection with recent railway robberies carried out near Pune over the last two months.Sagar Dada Kamthe (19) of Ghorpadi, Atul Shivaji Nimbhore (22) of Malwadi, Hadapsar, and Kailas Maruti Vagare (22), all originally from Karmala in Solapur district, were arrested on Monday by the Pune crime branch. Goods worth Rs 1.36 lakh have been seized from them. Meanwhile, the government railway police (GRP) arrested Nitin Datta Survase (23), of Shewalwadi in Haveli taluka, on Sunday and Chotelal alias Bablu Gupta (32) of Vaiduwadi, Hadapsar, on Monday. Eight cell phones and Rs 5,000 were recovered from Survase and Gupta.Four more members of the gang are still at large.Addressing a news conference on Monday, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rajesh Bansode said that the anti-dacoity cell of the crime branch, led by inspector Satish Govekar, nabbed Kamthe, Nimbhore and Vagare from Ghorpadi, as they were preparing to loot a Kolhapur-bound train. "During interrogation, they admitted their involvement in recent train robberies and also revealed the names of their accomplices," Bansode said.According to him, the gang is responsible for robbing six trains near Pune.In June the gang robbed Rs 50,000 from passengers on the Patna express near Daund. The gang also looted the Agra-Pune Express near Pune. On July 17, the gang robbed passengers of the Pune-Patna Express near Yavat; on July 22, the Maharashtra Express was targeted; on July 25, cash and cellphones worth Rs 1.21 lakh were robbed on the Jodhpur-Pune Express and on July 27 the gang robbed 18 passengers travelling on the Goa-Nizamuddin Express.

Bansode said the crime branch recovered cash, gold ornaments, wrist watches and a DVD player worth Rs 1.36 lakh from the gang. "We have launched a search operation to trace the other suspects," he added.

Inspector Govekar said Kamthe has a police record and has cases of vehicle theft and robberies registered against him. "We checking to see if Nimbhore has a police record," Govekar added.

He said the police also seized weapons from the suspects. "While committing the dacoity on the Jodhpur-Pune express, the men had beaten up some passengers," Govekar said.

Police inspector Mahendra Rokade of the GRP told TOI that the GRP would soon seek the transfer of the three men in crime branch custody for further investigation.

According to Rokade, the gang would get train tickets for the general compartment. Two of them would leave their seats on the pretext of going to the toilet and carry out a recce of the compartment and neighbouring compartments. After confirming that there were no policemen in the compartments, they would threaten the passengers with weapons and loot them. They would then pull the chain to stop the train and escape.