A notorious inter-state pickpocket, who was allegedly involved in over 400 cases since 2004 and had 36 cases against him this year alone, was arrested in Hyderabad on Tuesday by Government Railway Police and RPF.
A total of 668 grams gold and Rs 13.53 lakh in cash was recovered from him, the GRP said in a release.
Upon investigation, officials were surprised at the wealth accumulated by the accused, identified as Thander Singh Kushva.
The GRP said that he had rented a high-end flat in Hyderabad's Chandanagar area, for Rs 30,000 a month and got his daughter and son admitted in a posh international school in the city, paying an annual fee of Rs 2 lakh each, officials said.
Singh, who is from Uttar Pradesh, had shifted to Pune in 2004 and plied his trade in trains in the Pune-Secunderabad sector. He stole cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 2 crore from passengers during this period and used it to acquire assets, including plots, the release said.
Investigation officials said that he had been arrested on several occasions in the past and released, whereupon he again used to take to his profession.
According to media reports, the accused would either buy a reserved or an unreserved ticket and board a train, following which he would strike unsuspecting passengers, making off with cash and valuables worth at least Rs 20,000 on each trip. He used to make around eight such trips per month and had not been arrested since 2015, officials said.
Singh was also reportedly an accused, in a robbery case in Vikarabad, earlier this year. The accused was presented in front of a local court and sent to judicial custody.
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(PTI inputs)