Laptop thief lands in railway police net

Mumbai Central Railway police on Wednesday arrested a 57-year-old man allegedly involved in stealing laptops of railway passengers by making friends with them. He used to impress them by posing as a soft-spoken and educated person.

Two laptops have been recovered from the accused, Francis Joseph Prabhakar, which he sold in the electronics market at Lamington Road, said senior inspector Bharat Kumar Rane. The railway court has remanded him in police custody till April 11, added Rane.

One laptop belongs to MBA student Arun Joseph Paul, 24, resident of Jaipur while the other one is of Joyson John, 22, a student from the Netherlands.

On Wednesday evening, Paul was on platform no 1 waiting for Jaipur Express. He was approached by Francis who started speaking to him in fluent English. They became good friends. Trusting Francis, Paul told him to look after his belongings and went to a nearby food stall.

When Paul came back, he was shocked to find that the man had walk off with his mobile phone, laptop and purse containing Rs600, driving licence, an HSBC credit card and a passport. He then lodged a complaint at Mumbai Central police station. John’s computer was stolen on March 17, 2009 when he was waiting at Mumbai Central Railway station to board August Kranti Express for Delhi, said Rane.