A pickpocket stole Rs 2 lakh from the jailor of Alipore Central jail on a private bus on Friday afternoon.

Asit Baran Maity’s leather handbag was cut open and two bundles Rs 1,000 notes were taken out. The jailor had withdrawn the money from his Public Provident Fund account to deal with a family emergency.

“I encashed the cheque in a Sonarpur bank near home, put the money in the handbag and took an autorickshaw from Sonarpur to Garia. I then took another autorickshaw to Tollygunge tram depot,” recounted Maity.

He remembered putting his wallet into the handbag after paying the fare in Tollygunge. “I had decided to take a taxi to Alipore, but when I saw a bus on route 80A, I boarded it.”

According to Maity, the bus was not very crowded. “I stood in front of the seat reserved for physically challenged passengers, near the rear gate. After a few minutes, a man standing beside me started coughing loudly. I was getting distracted, so I moved to the middle of the bus.”

Maity got off the bus in front of the jail and walked to his quarters. When he opened the bag, he found that the two bundles of money and the wallet were gone.

The jailor immediately went to Regent Park police station, since he had boarded the bus there, and lodged a complaint. He later met Asish Sengupta, the officer-in-charge of the watch section of the detective department and lodged another complaint.

The police said the theft appeared to be the work of a professional gang.