Youth held for slap and snatch cellphone theft

DavenRaven

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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MADURAI: A youth hailing from Nagamalai Pudukottai, on the outskirts of Madurai, has been arrested for a series of 'slap and snatc..

MADURAI: A youth hailing from Nagamalai Pudukottai, on the outskirts of Madurai, has been arrested for a series of 'slap and snatch' cellphone theft cases at railway stations in Chennai.
P Thiyagu alias Karthik (22) and his three accomplices adopted an unusual modus operandi to snatch mobile phones from over 100 train passengers. According to sources in the Railway Protection Force (RPF), the lean, darkcomplexioned youth would land at Chennai's suburban railway stations and pretend to be waiting to board a train or meet a friend. He would quickly survey the approaching trains to look for passengers, either seated next to the window or standing near the entrance chatting on their mobile phones. Just as the train moved, he would take the passenger by surprise by slapping him/her.

"Usually, the shocked commuter would drop his cellphone or lose his grip on the handset and try to confront the assailant. Karthik's accomplice would then pick up the cellphone and run away," an RPF officer said.

While at the Central Prison in Puzhal, Karthik boasted to his jail inmates of his 'adventures' while stealing cellphones. A prisoner told the jail warder about this and later, higher officials communicated this to the RPF.