Santosh Kumar, the arrested man, with the recovered goods at Patna Junction on Sunday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Jan. 23: In one of its biggest catches till date, the Government Railway Police (GRP) held a man involved in the theft of 16 mobiles and a laptop this morning.

GRP officers claimed this was important breakthrough as they had been trying to net a gang that steals mobiles and laptops from log distance trains passing through the state. A number of passengers have lodged complaints with the GRP, after their valuable went missing, said a source.

The arrested person Santosh Kumar (32) was nabbed after the rail cops received a tip-off. “We have been on the look out for sometime. We had information that the gang was active. Santosh was arrested from the station this morning,” said GRP inspector Ramakant Prasad.

Based on information gleaned from Santoash, a GRP team also raided a shop in Chandi Market and recovered 16 mobiles and a laptop.

Shop owner Deepu Kumar, however, manager to escape and is now absconding.

Kumar has been sent to judicial custody. “Santosh told us that a shop in Chandi Market, owned by one Deepu Kumar, used to purchase the stolen good from him,” said Prasad

Prasad said the GRP have been on their toes as a large number of passengers have complained about missing laptops and mobiles.

In September last year, the rail cops had netted three persons and recovered 40 mobiles and 5 laptops from them. They too had informed the GRP officers that a shop in Chandhi Market used to buy the stolen goods.

“This is the second time we have arrested criminals with expensive electronic gadgets in their possession. We suspect that a large network is operating from Patna Junction. Passengers travelling with laptops or expensive models of mobiles need to be careful,” said Prasad. Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, he said: “They target AC compartments in the early hours of the morning. That is the best time to pick these electronic goods as the passengers are generally asleep.”

Investigations are on and the cops are trying to ascertain if the gang is active in other parts of the state as well.

The GRP officers were confident that they would crack the case soon. “The gang has stolen hundreds of things till date. We are confident that we will arrest all of them soon. We are also trying to recover the stolen gadgets,” said GRP official said.

Fake drugs seized

GRP also seized fake drugs worth Rs 8 lakh from Magadh Express, when the train reached Patna Delhi. Drug inspector Sachidanand Prasad checked the medicines and said they had expired. An FIR has been lodged against four persons.