Mumbai: The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested a habitual offender involved in a series of thefts on Mumbai’s local trains. The accused was targeting passengers who kept their bags and valuables on the overhead luggage racks and got distracted by mobile phones or fell asleep during their commute.

The accused, identified as Roy Cowgool Vargis (47), with no permanent residence, was apprehended by the Dadar Crime Branch team while loitering near CSMT railway station on October 17.

Vargis was detained and later confessed to his involvement in multiple thefts, including a case registered at the Kalyan Government Railway Police Station (Case No. 1248/2025) under Section 305(C) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

According to the police, Vargis boarded local trains from CSMT or Dadar (down direction) and observed passengers who had placed their belongings on the luggage racks and became distracted. He would then steal the unattended bags and disembark at the next station. He reportedly employed a similar modus operandi on trains heading in the upward direction from Kalyan and Dombivli.

Following his arrest on October 17, 2025, Vargis led the police to recover stolen goods worth a total of Rs 1,28,499. The recovered items included an HP laptop valued at Rs 70,000, a Dell laptop bag worth Rs 10,000, and a mobile phone valued at Rs 20,000.

Additionally, the police recovered a Titan watch priced at Rs 12,000, a Bluetooth speaker and headphones together worth Rs 4,000, and two other items valued at Rs 13,499 and Rs 9,000 respectively. Several other miscellaneous items were also seized as part of the recovery.

The operation was conducted under the leadership of M. Rakesh Kalasagar, Commissioner of Police (Railways), Mumbai, and Javed Khedkar, Senior Police Inspector, Crime Branch, GRP Mumbai.

The investigation team included officers from the Dadar Crime Branch Unit: API Mangesh Khade, PI Rajesh Bhadale, PSI Ganesh Harishchandre, and police personnel Rakesh Bhamre, Mahendra Kadile, Prashant Saluke, Prashant Redekar, Sujeet Magade, Gopal, Akshay Desai, and Vishwajeet Nagare.

Kolkata, Oct 21: Even after six days of interrogation, the police duirng their investigation have found discrepancies in the statements of the Durgapur gang-rape victim’s male friend and five arrested youths from the local village.

The police are trying to find some missing links in this gang-rape case, said officials.

Police investigation revealed that the medical student was in a relationship with her classmate cum male friend. They had gone out on that fateful night outside the campus of the private medical college and hospital in Durgapur.

First it was said that they had gone out to buy dinner. However, investigation revealed that they were found in a compromising position in a forested area outside the campus by three of the five arrested accused youths.

As the accused demanded money from the two, the male friend was allowed to leave the area to get money. It is at that time that one of the accused raped the medical student while two others watched. Later, two more youths turned up at the scene of crime. The mobile phone of the medical student was snatched. The male friend arrived with money and the two of them were let go, said police sources.

According to investigators, from the first day, the medical student’s male friend Wasif Ali misguided the police. As a result, the police were confused during the course of investigation. The investigators are comparing the statements of the victim, the male friend and five youths from the village. However, there are still several discrepancies in their statements.

All the arrested will be produced in a court on Wednesday as their police custody ends. The police said they will seek an extension of their custody for further interrogation and investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, the medical student was discharged from the hospital last Friday. However, she is not staying in the college hostel, but in a rented house in Durgapur under police surveillance. The student is accompanied by her mother. Policemen have also been posted outside the house for her security.

On October 10, the second-year medical student from Odisha was allegedly gang-raped by five persons in a forested area outside a private medical college and hospital in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur. Based on the complaint lodged by the victim, the police earlier arrested all the five accused persons in the case. The police said that only one person was involved in physical sexual assault to the medical student.

Later, the police arrested the male friend of the victim. The male friend was arrested after investigators found inconsistencies in his response during interrogation. He is also presently in police custody.

The victim’s father, meanwhile, demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident to punish the culprits quickly.

Mumbai: A 26-year-old man, identified as Harshal Parma, was brutally beaten to death by a group of people in Mumbai’s Goregaon area after they allegedly mistook him for a thief. The shocking incident occurred late on Monday night.

According to police officials, Parma’s hands and legs were tied before he was subjected to a severe beating. He sustained critical injuries during the assault and later succumbed to his wounds. Preliminary investigations suggest that the mob suspected him of attempting theft, though no conclusive evidence has been found to support this claim.

The Goregaon police acted swiftly and registered a case in connection with the assault. Four suspects have been arrested in the case, identified as Salman Mohammad Khan, Isamullah Khan, Gautam and Rajiv Gupta.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges of murder and unlawful assembly. Police officials stated that further investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the Borivali Railway Police arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly molesting a woman at Borivali railway station in the early hours of October 19. The woman, whose mother had recently passed away in Nagpur, was waiting at platform number three around 1.30 am when the accused, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, approached and touched her inappropriately.

The woman immediately reported the incident to the railway police, who apprehended the accused soon after. A case has been registered under Section 74 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with assault or use of criminal force with intent to outrage a woman’s modesty.

The accused, who works as a video editor for a production house, was produced in court and has been remanded to judicial custody. He is currently lodged in Thane jail. The police have withheld his identity as the investigation continues.