Agra: Wrestlers , body-builders and athletes are often forced to take extreme measures to keep up with their training and dietary requirements. Javed Khalid and Shivam Sharma, two wrestlers, however, took to robbing train passengers in order to afford the diet their workout demanded, said officials.

Khalid and Sharma, travelling in an AC-I coach on the Gondwana Express, were caught by the police during a routine patrol of the train.“The men were not carrying any luggage and were constantly moving in the AC coaches from one end to the other, raising suspicion among the passengers. When train reached Agra Cantt station, the duo were detained for questioning,” said Agra Cantt station in-charge Devender Mishra.

Khalid, from Ghaziabad, and Sharma from Lucknow admitted during interrogation that they were wrestlers and had taken to robbing train passengers to supplement the very expensive diet thay had to follow as wrestlers. According to officials, the diet for each of them was 12 eggs, two litres of milk and 100 grams of cashew nuts every day, and mutton six days a week. “Being from low-income families and unemployed, they could not afford all this on a daily basis, so they decided robbery was the easy way out,” an official added.

Khalid and Shivam wrestle at local bouts or dangals at Rohtak, Sonipat, Palwal and others district of Haryana. “They met in Delhi and, after discussing their situation, teamed up to make money by robbing train passengers, particularly in AC coaches,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP) of GRP Gopeshnath Khanna, talking to TOI.

Disguising themselves as upper-class passengers, the duo often travelled in night trains and conducted recce in coaches prior to executing the thefts. “Till now we have managed to recover valuable items mentioned in four FIRs related to thefts and robberies,” Khanna added.

Officials said the duo used to sell the proceeds of the robberies to a Delhi-based man by the name of Naushaad. GRP has sent a team to find out his whereabouts. Meanwhile, Khalid and Sarma have been booked under IPC section 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc.) and Arms Act 4/25.

