Sudhir Gupta (left) and Santtu Paswan in GRP custody at Patna station on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Sept. 27: Be cautious while befriending co-passengers on train. They could be eyeing your valuables posing as friends or even journalists. Two such conmen were arrested from Patna railway station today.

Government Railway Police (GRP) inspector Ramakant Prasad said: “We arrested Sudhir Gupta and Santtu Paswan from the railway station this afternoon for foxing innocent passengers and looting them. We recovered Rs 9,000 and two mobile phones from them.”

Prasad said 38-year-old Sudhir hails from Habibpur in Bhagalpur district while 42-year-old Santtu from Bakhtiyarpur in Patna district. He said Gupta would befriend the passengers and Paswan posed as a reporter to loot passengers. The duo have been on the job for the past five years.

When asked about the modus operandi, Prasad said: “The duo looted passengers mainly from Delhi and Ludhiana. Gupta would befriend passengers and enquire about their whereabouts. If a passenger said he was from Meethapur in Patna, Gupta would say he was from there as well. He would then tell the passenger that heavy police patrolling was going on and if the passenger did not want to get into trouble he should come with him. Gupta would then say that he knows a reporter who could help them.”

Prasad added: “Santtu, posing as a reporter, would suddenly appear in front of Gupta and the passenger. Gupta would introduce Paswan to the passenger and would seek his help to cross the police checkpost. Paswan would agree after hesitation and would take them with him. To convince the targeted passenger, Gupta would carry a bag with him as well. But it used to contain pattal (leaf plates) and two pumpkins only.”

Prasad said: “Gupta, Paswan and the passenger would take an autorickshaw to their destination. On the way, Paswan would ask Gupta and the passenger to be alert and not show any money or valuable to the police as they might enquire about them. Paswan would then ask the passenger and Gupta to give him all their cash and valuables so that he could get them authorised from the post office. Gupta would immediately hand over his money to Paswan to win the passenger’s confidence.”

After passengers parted with their money, Gupta used to ask them to look after his bag and accompany Paswan to the post office. “Leaving the passenger with the bag, the duo would disappear forever. Tired of waiting, when the foxed passengers used to open the bag they could only find the leaf plates and the pumpkins inside,” Prasad added.