Hyderabad: A notorious inter-state pickpocket, who was allegedly involved in over 400 cases since 2004 and had 36 cases against him this year alone, was arrested here on Tuesday by Government Railway Police and RPF.
A total of 668 grams gold and Rs 13.53 lakh in cash was recovered from him, the GRP said in a release. He had been arrested on several occasions in the past and released, whereupon he again used to take to his profession, they said.
In November, he had attacked a police constable with a blade at Begumpet railway station and though he sustained injuries on his hand, he managed to escape from the spot. He was nabbed on Monday when he came to Begumpet railway station to collect the bike he had parked in November.
Thanedar Singh Kushva, who hails from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, had shifted to Pune in 2004 and plied his trade in trains in the Pune-Secunderabad sector, Railway Superintendent of Police B Anuradha said.
Read: Watch: Thief prays before stealing Goddess's crown
He stole cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 2 crore from the passengers during this period and used it to acquire assets, including plots.
In 2006, he had come in contact with an offender and learned techniques of stealing wallets with a blade.
In Vikarabad, Kushva got introduced to gamblers and began spending money on gambling. He later got came in contact with cricket bookies and earned Rs 10 lakh in cricket betting. With the amount, Kushva purchased two shops in Agra and also a plot on his wife’s name and a two-bedroom house.
He also rented a flat in Hyderabad for Rs 30,000 a month and got his daughter and son admitted in a posh school, paying an annual fee of Rs 2 lakh each, the release said.
Earlier in 2011, he was arrested by the Sholapur Railway Police and spent a year in Yerwada jail. After being released, he shifted his family to Serilingampally and stayed in a rented house.
Read: Thief steals twice in Maha school and requests not to complain
