Nellore: Government Railway Police arrested an inter-state criminal and recovered gold ornaments weighing 1.1 kg, worth Rs 33 lakh at Nellore on Wednesday night.
Interestingly, father of the accused Menapati Srinivasan alias Chennai Sreenu was a junior engineer in Railways and his father-in-law was a station master.
His uncles and many relatives are employed in Railways, Guntakal Railway District SP Siddarth Kaushal said.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Thursday, he said that the accused is a member of an organised criminal gang involved in a series of offences in passenger trains.
According to Mr Kaushal, the modus operandi of Srinivasan is to board some selected trains such as Hyderabad-Chennai Superfast Express, Charminar Express, Circar Express, GT, Bokhara Express etc., with a general ticket as a passenger between Vijayawada and Chennai and manage to get a berth in AC coach using names of his railway contacts.
He roams in the coaches, spots victms, particularly women carrying valuables in their bags, observing their cautious nature, waits until they sleep during peak hours and used to decamp with booty in between any station comfortable for his escape.
He was elusive for 3-4 years and was arrested on April 3 night at Nellore Railway station when he was escaping to Chennai along with gold ornaments.
During interrogation, the offender confessed that he is responsible for 15 property offences. Now residing in Vijayawada, Srinivasan is married and has wife and two sons.
His criminal activity began after his Intermediate when he got accustomed to an easy and luxury life style due to which his father pushed him out of the house.
He took shelter at his own cousins’ and maternal uncles’ houses at Chirala and became an active member of an organised criminal gang. After three years, he excluded himself and committed various crimes independently.
Mr Kaushal appreciated Railway Subdivision, Nellore, DSP G. Vasantha Kumar and CI Dasaradha Rama Rao for nabbing the accused despite various challenges such as shortage of manpower and heavy volume of passenger trains.
Lack of awareness amongst passengers to take precaution to safeguard their belongings is an issue.
