Youth held for slap and snatch cellphone theft

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.