April,5,2017:

He used to target First-class AC coach travellers by stealing their cellphones and laptops.

A corporation school teacher was arrested from his South Delhi house on the charges of extortion and theft.

Bhattu Bheem Rao Patil, would target people travelling by Rajdhani and the Shatabdi Express Trains. He would scan through the passenger charts and identify the potential targets.

Then he would board first-class AC coach from a station a little ahead of the Delhi. Once in, he would steal the cellphones and the laptops and get down when train slowed down while chugging into the New Delhi station.

Sometimes, the laptop bag would contain victim's business card. He would then call up the person and ask for money to return items, threatening to reveal sensitive data or destroy the gadget if his demand isn't met. If his threat didn't work, he would sell off the gadget to the dealer in Nehru Place,Delhi.

Police said an IIM student had recently lodged a complaint with them. The woman's laptop went missing around Meerut. But a few days later, Patil called up on her brother's number and demanded Rs 30,000 to be wired to account linked to an ATM card he found in laptop bag.

"Police team was formed and CCTV footage of station was checked. Raids were being conducted near Okhla, Badarpur and Jamia Nagar when thief struck again," stated DCP (Railways) Parwaiz Ahmed.

Next victim was an Army officer who was travelling on Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express. This officer, too, found his laptop bag missing.The bag contained two cellphones and some cash. When the officer dialed one of the cellphones. Patil answered the call and demanded Rs 30,000.
Officer didn't give him a reply immediately, but kept him engaged for long enough so that Police could trace his location. Patil was finally arrested from Shaheen Bagh.
One Kundan Singh Bisht, who helped him dispose of the stolen goods, was also arrested. Patil later told Police that he needed money to gamble and pay off the debts.

Picture Source :