Nearly three weeks after a 34-year-old woman passenger of the Puducherry-Mumbai Dadar Chalukya Express was relieved of a 4.5 sovereign gold chain, the Jolarpet Government Railway Police nabbed the thief on Saturday and recovered the jewel from him.
Police said Ranga, a resident of Kolar Gold Field in Karnataka, was a habitual offender and was involved in several chain snatching cases in moving trains.
On Saturday, when the Coimbatore-Chennai Central Intercity Express stopped at Jolarpet junction around 11.30 am, the Jolarpet Railway Police spotted him inside the train. On suspicion, they picked him up for inquiry.
During inquiry, Ranga confessed that he had snatched the 4.5 sovereign gold chain, worth around 1 lakh, from the woman passenger of the Chalukya Express on June 22, and alighted from the train.
He said he had boarded the train when it was moving at a speed of about 5 kmph between Parsampettai Railway Gate and Jolarpet Railway Station and alighted from the train, said the police.
The police officer said the chain would be handed over to the owner through the court. Police registered a case against Ranga and remanded him in the Vellore Central Prison for Men.
The victim, R Sivagami, was travelling with husband and their child. They were travelling in berths close to the door on S2 coach of the train. The incident had occurred between 2.45 am and 2.50 am on July 22.