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New Delhi: A recent data released by the Western Railway about the number of items sold from trains should put all of us to shame. Just last year, passengers riding the long-distance trains stole 1.95 lakh towels, 81,736 bed-sheets, 55,573 pillow covers, 5,038 pillows, and 7,043 blankets. Apart from that, 200 toilet mugs, nearly 1,000 taps, and over 300 flush pipes were also stolen are also a part of the list of items stolen from the Railways.

Toilet mugs, ceiling fans, bed linens, pillows, and pillow covers are the popular targets of a few petty passengers who do not shy away from nicking public property. Stolen property worth Rs 2.97 crores, including the above-mentioned items as well as other articles such as showers in washrooms, iron grills of windows and railway tracks, were recovered by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in 2017-18, as per Mumbai Mirror.

Giving data of the stolen goods, Sunil Udasi, CPRO Central Railway told the daily that between April to September 2018, around 79,350 hand towel, 27,545 bedsheets, 21,050, pillow covers, 2,150 pillows, and 2,065 blankets were nicked. The total worth of these stolen items was Rs. 62 lakhs.

In the latest incident, a Ratlam resident was arrested on Monday after he attempted to steal three blankets, six bedsheets, and three pillows. The accused, Shabbir Rotiwala boarded the AC coach of a long-distance train from Bandra Terminus and was spotted by attendants hurriedly keeping the bed linens in his bag before getting down at Ratlam station, where he was detained.

As per the report, a loss of around Rs 4,000 crores has been incurred by the Indian Railways over the last three fiscals, with thefts on trains causing further loss of revenue to the Railways.