‘Fatka’ thief is held within 24 hours of crime in Mumbai

Mumbai: A ‘fatka’ thief was arrested by

railway police

within 24 hours of his crime on harbour line. Ramzan Shaikh was found in a slum colony near the tracks and the stolen phone was recovered. Five ‘fatka’ thefts have been reported on the line since February and only the latest has been solved.

On Monday, Qurban Ali (36) was on the footboard of a local around 7.30pm. It was between GTB Nagar-Wadala stations when Ali, a daily wager, got a call. He took his phone when he felt a sharp pain on his hand, where he had been whacked with a stick. He dropped his phone on the tracks and spotted a man atop a railway pole with a stick.

“This was under a bridge barely 200 metres from Wadala station. Only someone from the slums dotting the tracks could have access so quickly,” said senior inspector Hamraj Kumbhar, Wadala GRP. Police tapped their informant network and looked through their files. “Shaikh was located at Bengalipura, a slum in Antop Hill.,” said assistant inspector Vishal Chavan.

Shaikh, who had been booked for robbery in 2015 and for drug consumption, had planned to sell the phone. tnn