A 19-year-old alleged ‘Irani’ gang member was arrested in Thane district for mobile theft and assault.
The accused allegedly snatched a passenger’s phone from a moving train near Ambivali station.
He reportedly attacked a railway constable with a stick while resisting arrest.
A teen member of the 'Irani' has been arrested for allegedly manhandling and assaulting a police constable who caught him stealing a mobile phone onboard an express train in Maharashtra's Thane district, the Government Railway Police (GRP) said on Friday.
The incident occurred between Ambivali and Shahad railway stations on Wednesday evening, senior inspector Pandhari Kande of the Kalyan GRP said.
The accused, Ibrahim Firoz Irani (19), a resident of Ambivali and a member of the 'Irani' gang, is known to operate along the railway tracks, he said.
"The incident occurred around 7 pm when constable Akshay Motilal Patil was on patrolling duty. The Antyodaya Express was passing by the spot at a slow speed when a passenger standing at the door was struck on the hand with a stick by a man standing on the tracks. The passenger's mobile phone fell, and the accused quickly snatched the device," the official said, quoting the FIR.
Constable Patil and an RPF personnel witnessed the theft and rushed forward to intercept the thief.
"When Patil caught hold of the accused, the man resisted violently, assaulted the constable and subsequently struck him with a stick," the official said.
Hearing the commotion, another on-duty railway police personnel rushed to the spot, and the accused was overpowered and arrested, he said.
