Vikas Kumar in police custody in Patna. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Oct. 22: Bid to make fast bucks today landed a budding techie in jail.

Nineteen-year-old Vikas Kumar, a first year engineering student of Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Pune, was arrested this morning on charges of stealing wallet of a police constable near Patna railway station booking counter.

An FIR has been lodged against him.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) had earlier arrested a few students on charges of robbery. But this is the first instance of an engineering student being arrested for stealing wallet.

“It is shocking that an engineering student was involved in such an activity. I could not believe an educated boy could be involved in such anti-social activities. After investigation it was confirmed that he was the culprit. An FIR has been lodged against him,” said GRP inspector Ramakant Prasad.

Prasad said: “Vikas Kumar tried to flee after stealing the wallet of a constable. The wallet had Rs 1,500 and an ATM card. Kumar was chased by an on-duty GRP police and was finally nabbed.”

The GRP inspector said Kumar hails from Bikramganj subdivision in Rohtas district and is pursuing mechanical engineering at MIT, Pune.

“He was in the town for Dussehra with his grandfather. His father, too, is an engineer posted in Kalyan, Mumbai,” Prasad said.

The GRP inspector said: “Only greed could have forced him to indulge in the act. Otherwise why would a student from a well-off family get involved in such petty crime? The new generation wants to achieve everything very fast. They don’t want to struggle or work to earn money. Proper counselling is needed to bring such children on the right track.”

When The Telegraph spoke to Kumar before being sent to jail, he said: “I cleared the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) to get admission in MIT. I secured 72 per cent in Class XII. I know that the incident is a disgrace for me and humiliation for my parents too.”

Prasad said: “The lure of more pocket money forces students to take up crime. They cannot ask for money from their parents and this is an easy way for them to get money.”

When asked why he was roaming on the railway station, Kumar said: “I came to book a ticket to Pune.”

“Constable Badru Jama and Munmun Singh nabbed Kumar near the booking counter when he was trying to flee after stealing the wallet of the constable,” the GRP inspector said.