Snooze and swipe: How a thief robbed sleeping passengers at Mathura railway station

The GRP initiated an investigation at the Mathura Railway Station and arrested the accused. (Image: indiarailinfo.com)

A brazen thief employed a cunning modus operandi, capitalising on the vulnerability of unsuspecting passengers to execute robberies at the Mathura Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh. Adopting a guise of slumber, the perpetrator, identified as 21-year-old Avnish Singh from Etah, strategically positioned himself amidst sleeping commuters, concealing his true intentions until the opportune moment arose.

When they were fast asleep, the thief deftly pilfered mobile phones and other valuables from passengers prompting numerous complaints to the Government Railway Police (GRP). The GRP initiated an investigation, unraveling the audacious scheme captured by surveillance cameras, that led to the arrest of the accused.

Upon scrutiny of CCTV footage, a chilling sequence unfolded, depicting Singh seamlessly blending into the sea of slumbering commuters. With stealth akin to a seasoned predator, Singh surveyed his surroundings, ensuring the absence of onlookers before springing into action.

He gets up from where he lay and moves in between two sleeping passengers. Turning on his side, he goes through the pocket of a sleeping passenger and finding nothing turns to the other side to rob the man next to him.

With deft sleight of hand, he extracts a mobile phone, puts it in his pocket, picks up his bag and exits the waiting room.

Hindustan Times shared the CCTV footage on X:

#Mathura GRP in-charge Sandeep Tomar found a 'sleeping' #thief when he scanned the #CCTV footage from the many cameras on the station premises#WATCH here pic.twitter.com/kJeXK6PyPz

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) April 11, 2024

Government Railway Police (GRP) inspector Sandeep Tomar, speaking to Hindustan Times, revealed how they caught him. "We watched CCTV footage and came across the video. The accused involved has been arrested,” he said.