Railway police have identified spots where thieves armed with sticks climb poles beside tracks and hit commuters standing on footboards of slow-moving trains to grab their cellphones.At first blush, the incidents may appear random — they occurred weeks apart — but they are among a spate of mobile thefts and snatchings with a common pattern: the crimes occurred when trains had slowed down on a curve or while approaching a station.The railway police call these spots ‘Fatka Points’, places where gangs of thieves armed with sticks climb poles beside tracks and whack commuters standing on footboards of slow-moving locals to grab their mobiles.Over 60 such cases, classified as “slash/hitting” by rail officials, were registered on the Central Line last year, while 42 were recorded on the Western Line.The GRP and RPF have mapped ‘Fatka Points’ on the two networks, and launched a crackdown on known gangs. The Bandra rail section is a major concern for authorities because there are shanties on either side of the tracks, providing thieves a convenient cover. The absence of a perimeter wall also makes their job easier.“Most thefts take place on stretches where trains reduce their speed, on a curved section for instance. Groups of men loiter near tracks and climb poles when a train approaches. They know very well that even if the train is travelling slowly, it’s still not safe for commuters to jump off and chase them,” said Sachin Bhalode, RPF senior divisional security commissioner for Central Railway.Anand Jha, RPF senior divisional commissioner for Western Railway, said spots immediately before or after stations were also hunting grounds for ‘fatka gangs’.“When a train is entering or leaving a station, the speed is not that high. These miscreants grab phones of commuters standing near the train entrance,” Jha said.The RPF has started a drive involving teams of plain-clothes officers to nab the thieves. One team keeps a watch at a station, while another travels aboard a train. “We arrested many people at Wadala and the cases of mobile theft dropped there. But during the same period, such cases went up near Kalyan as the gangs shifted their focus,” Bhalode said.Madhukar Jadhav, who is studying engineering at a Mulund college, was targeted by fatka gangs on April 8. He boarded a Kalyan-bound train after his classes and was standing near the footboard when someone hit him on his hand. “I dropped my phone on tracks and then I saw a man climbing down a pole and picking it up. I got off the train and chased him,” Madhukar said.The thief was nabbed and the Dombivli GRP recovered six cellphones from him.Vile Parle resident Divya Galgali works with a firm in Lower Parel. Her phone was stolen on the night of March 11 after she boarded a train from Dadar. “The train had just pulled out of Mahim when someone slapped me. It was so sudden that I didn’t realise whether the man was inside the compartment or perched on the pole near the tracks. I dropped my mobile, and could see him picking it up. He waved the mobile in my direction before escaping,” Galgali said.