Mumbai local train: The incidents of theft in Mumbai local trains are increasing day by day. GRP has arrested a habitual local train thief. Police have recovered stolen goods worth more than ₹1.28 lakh from him. The Crime Branch of Mumbai’s Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested a habitual offender involved in frequent theft incidents in Mumbai’s local trains.
The accused targeted passengers who kept their luggage and valuables on overhead luggage racks and were busy with their mobile phones or fell asleep during the journey. Roy Koggul Varghese, 47, of no permanent address, was caught by the Dadar Crime Branch team on October 17 while roaming near CSMT railway station.
Varghese was detained and later confessed to his involvement in several thefts. These include case number 1248/2025 registered at the Kalyan Government Railway Police Station under Section 305(C) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the police, Varghese boarded local trains from CSMT or Dadar (downward direction). He would observe passengers who had placed their luggage on the luggage racks and were distracted. He would then steal the unnoticed bags and disembark at the next station. According to reports, he also employed a similar modus operandi on trains traveling upstream from Kalyan and Dombivali.
Following his arrest on October 17, 2025, Varghese helped police recover stolen goods totaling ₹1,28,499. The recovered items included an HP laptop worth ₹70,000, a Dell laptop bag worth ₹10,000, and a mobile phone worth ₹20,000.
In addition, police recovered a Titan watch worth ₹12,000, a Bluetooth speaker and headphones worth ₹4,000, and two other items worth ₹13,499 and ₹9,000. Several other miscellaneous items were also seized as part of the recovery.
The operation was led by Mumbai Police Commissioner (Railways) M. Rakesh Kalasagar and Senior Police Inspector Javed Khedkar of the Crime Branch of GRP Mumbai. The investigation team also included API Mangesh Khade of the Dadar Crime Branch, PI Rajesh Bhadale, PSI Ganesh Harishchandra, and police officers Rakesh Bhamre, Mahendra Kadile, Prashant Saluke, Prashant Redkar, Sujit Magde, Gopal, Akshay Desai, and Vishwajeet Nagre.