Bangalore, June 11: The law has caught up with three serial offenders, five months after they fatally stabbed a 47-year-old Bengali train passenger for refusing to hand over money he got as compensation for his son’s accidental death.

Sources said sketches made with the help of the victim’s family helped railway police trace the assailants.

The sketches were recently shown to two arrested criminals, who recognised them and told the police that one of them, Kariya, 21, was already in jail.

The police then questioned Kariya and caught the other two, Yajendra, 32, and Bharath, 20. Their leader, Manja alias Kulla Manja, is absconding.

Police sources said the robbers saw Malda resident Akmal Hussain “guarding his pajama pockets” as he made crossed a road and started tailing him.

“They were sure he was carrying a lot of money. The four are habitual offenders who lift suitcases and steal money at knifepoint from passengers,” a police officer said.

The robbers followed the family into a general compartment of the Guwahati-bound express, knifed Hussain in the chest twice, snatched the Rs 70,000 he was carrying and then jumped off minutes after the train left Bangalore late on the night of December 27.

Hussain’s wife Ameera Bibi and nephew Nooha Ali were also slashed. Hussain’s daughter Zareena Khatum escaped unhurt.

The money Hussain was carrying was part of a Rs 3.5-lakh compensation a city court had awarded for his son Abdul Bari’s death in a road accident.

Bari had come to Bangalore in 2005 after a friend promised to find him a job abroad. He died the day he arrived after a lorry hit him.