MUMBAI: Mere images of footwear helped railway police solve a phone theft case. A woman commuter had reported the theft of her phone costing Rs 2.1 lakh from a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) train recently and the Government Railway Police had few leads to pursue as CCTVs had captured the suspect, but the images were blurry. When the railway police scanned the images closely, they got a close look at his gait and footwear-chappals with a loop to slip in the big toe. Two days of some clever sleuthing helped nab a person who has admitted he had lifted the phone from the train.
Unaware of its true worth, the accused, Hemraj Bansiwal (30), had sold off the phone to a friend for Rs 3,500. The friend, Devilal Chauhan (32), has also been arrested.
On May 24, the complainant, who works for Central Railway, was seated in a ladies first-class compartment and had kept the phone on the seat.
While getting off at CSMT, the complainant remembered that her handset was not with her, but when she rushed back to the same compartment soon after, the phone was not on the seat. On May 25, she lodged a complaint at the railway police outpost at CSMT.