railway police

Karnataka

Lower Parel

crime

Wadala

Mulund

Three brothers nicknamed the Rowdy Rathods have been arrested for 50 cases of theft on Mumbai localsThehave busted a brotherhood of thieves with the arrest of three siblings, who adopted the last name ‘Rathod’ after their guru who taught them the art of pilfering.In the past nine years, they have picked countless pockets aboard Mumbai’s locals to pluck cell phones, of which 14 have been recovered so far, cops said. The trio of Anil Ramu, Sunil Ramu and Sanju Ramu migrated to Mumbai fromin 2005, and has over the years been wanted in as many as 50 cases of phone theft reported from the suburban railway network.Sleuths suspect they were involved in more. The hunt for the brothers ended last Tuesday, when two Government Railway Police (GRP) constables atstation caught Anil, the eldest of the siblings at 32, while he was trying to flick a passenger’s cell phone. The police arrested him and recovered six stolen cell phones from him. His interrogation not only yielded an admission ofand the recovery of another eight stolen phones from his house in tenement house in Wadala, but also led the investigators to his brother-accomplices, who were arrested over the next two days fromand another house inUpon grilling them, cops learnt that the brothers had each claimed one line of the suburban railways to for their exploits. Anil, who has been booked in the most number of cases among the three, concentrated his energies on western line. Sunil, who at 27 has 15 theft cases pending against him, operated on central line. And 19-year-old Sanju, wanted in connection with 10 thefts, worked the harbour line.GRP senior inspector S Dhanwate said that the ‘Rowdy Rathods’ set off on their crime capers in 2008, three years after they left their home state of Karnataka with their parents — daily wagers who were finding it difficult to support their five children.Anil, who was just Anil Ramu at the time, decided to pull his weight and began working at a small hotel, where he met a history-sheeter by the name of Shiva Rathod. It was Rathod who tutored him in the rudiments of train thefts, and unknowingly lent the ring of brothers his name, when Anil showed the ropes to Sunil and Sanjay.Dhanwante said sometimes the brothers worked together. “They would stand amid a crowd of commuters waiting for a train, carrying a huge bag. Anil would wedge the bag behind a passenger, so Sunil could filch their cell phone discreetly as the commuters boarded. The phone would be handed over to Sanjay, who would get out of the crowd, and the other two would get on board,” he said.