Mumbai: Man who left snake in Vande Bharat Express train held in Thane

A Nashikbased man who had in December last year left a snake in the Vande Bharat Express train was nabbed from Thane district in Maharashtra after almost 50 days of manhunt officials saidThey said that the Central Railways Railway Protection Force RPF has arrested the man accused of placing a snake inside a coach of the Vande Bharat Express trainThe accused identified as Jagan Arjun Bhale 37 a resident of Nashik district in Maharashtra was apprehended from Mumbra on February 12 2026The incident took place on December 27 2025 when a snake was discovered in the toilet of Coach C16 of Train No 22225 Vande Bharat ExpressRailway staff immediately closed the toilet and informed the Control RoomThe train continued its journey and the snake was safely rescued at Solapur stationCCTV footage later showed an unidentified person placing the snake inside the toiletCase registered under Railways ActFollowing the incident a case was registered under Sections 145B 147 and 153 of the Railways Act 1989 and an investigation was launchedWith the help of CCTV footage and a tipoff from an informer the RPF traced and arrested the accused from MumbraDuring questioning the accused allegedly confessed to the offenceThe accused was produced before the Railway Court in Kalyan which granted 14 days of Magisterial Custody Remand A detailed investigation is now underwayCentral Railway officials praised the RPF team for their swift action and efforts in ensuring passenger safetyThief flees away with gold and cash worth Rs 32 lakh held in West BengalTargeting a passenger on board Vidarbha Express train in Maharashtra a thief allegedly fled away with gold worth Rs 2688 lakh but was later held in in West Bengal officials said on ThursdayAccording to the officials the Mumbai Railway Police have arrested the habitual thief for allegedly stealing a passengerrsquos bag on the train The police have also recovered stolen property worth Rs 2688014 including 18623 grams of gold jewellery and cashThe incident took place on January 17 2026 on Train No 12104 Vidarbha Express The complainant was travelling in Coach S3 Seat No 32 While he was asleep the train passed Nashik Road railway station at around 242 am During this time an unknown person stole his green sack bagThe stolen bag contained gold jewellery and cash worth Rs 3273714Based on the complaint CSMT Railway Police under Section 305C of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNSCCTV footage helped identify the accusedAfter the case was registered the Crime Branch of Kalyan Unit 3 immediately began an investigation Police officers checked CCTV footage from railway stations between Nashik and CSMT where the Vidarbha Express stoppedThe footage showed a suspect boarding the train at Dadar railway station and getting down at CSMT railway station He was seen carrying a green sack bag matching the description given by the complainantFurther investigation through police records and informers revealed that the suspect was a known habitual offender He was identified as Jahir Jamal Sheikh aged 28 originally from Malda district in West BengalArrest in West BengalPolice teams from Kalyan Unit 3 travelled to Malda West Bengal after receiving technical information and local inputs After a search operation the accused was located and arrestedDuring interrogation the accused confessed to committing the theft Police recovered part of the stolen property from himStolen property recoveredThe recovered property includes 4 gold bars weighing 90690 grams worth Rs 13001352 gold bangles weighing 36200 grams worth Rs 4922961 gold bangle weighing 28500 grams worth Rs 3956561 gold bracelet weighing 16480 grams worth Rs 2301771 gold chain with pendant weighing 14360 grams worth Rs 200250 and cash of Rs 56500 113 notes of Rs 500An OPPO mobile phone worth Rs 13000 allegedly purchased using the stolen cash was also recovered the officials saidThe total recovered property is valued at Rs 2688014 they saidThe operation was carried out under the guidance of senior railway police officials including the Commissioner of Railway Police Mumbai and other senior officersThe investigation team was led by Senior Police Inspector Vijay Khedkar with Assistant Police Inspector Deepak Patil as the Investigating Officer along with other officers and staff from the Crime Branch Kalyan Unit 3 and the Technical Branch