Chennai: The railway police on Friday closed the complaints of 30 train robbery cases by arresting a man from Kerala. Police said they have recovered more than 100 sovereigns of gold jewels from him.
According to police, from 2016 to 2019, the railway police have been receiving complaints of thefts from women during night journeys.
Police said on May 7, the officials questioned a 'decently dressed' man at Central station on suspicion. After he gave contradicting replies, he was detained for further questioning. Investigations with the man revealed the man was a serial train robber.
Meeting the press, Railway DIG Balakrishnan said the man identified as Hamid Khadar (39) of Thrissur, Kerala, runs a hotel in Malaysia with two partners.
Hamid had come to TN by flight and carried out robberies in trains at nights. He travelled on trains with reservation. He has been involved in series of train robberies and targeted women passengers mainly in AC coaches and sometimes from regular compartments. If the situation was not conducive for him to carry out his operations, he would get down from the train halfway. After robbing, he sold the stolen jewels in Mumbai and Thrissur. A police team, led by Inspector Thomas Jesudasan, took him to Mumbai and Thrissur and recovered the stolen gold articles, he added.
It is said he began robbing train passengers as he needed money to dislodge a partner from the hotel business.
Sources said he was even involved in modeling business. He used to bring models from Algeria, France, Netherlands and Uzbekistan.
Investigations also revealed that Hamid ran a fake job consultancy firm promising people jobs in foreign countries. Nagpur police arrested him in 2012 for a rape case and Palakkad police booked him in a similar case in past.
He lives with his wife Sahana and two children.
