Chennai cop suspended for stealing passenger’s handbag in train

CHENNAI: A police constable, who was arrested for stealing a female passenger’s bag containing gold jewels on a train approaching Central station on Sunday, was placed under suspension.

Vasantha Kumar (33) was attached to the Otteri Police station as a driver. Police said that he had boarded the Kaveri Express at Walajahpet station travelling towards Chennai.

While the train was between Tirumullaivoyal and Ambattur, he allegedly walked into a sleeper class coach (S8) and tried to sneak away with Renuka’s handbag. When she woke up and saw him taking her bag, he put it inside his bag and threw it out of the train.

Recalling the incident, Renuka told media persons that she raised alarms and sought help from co-passengers after he threw out the bag and pulled the emergency stop chain to halt the train. “Then, I walked for about a kilometre to retrieve my handbag from the tracks and then took an electric train to reach Central station to file a formal complaint,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel had already detained Vasantha Kumar, and handed him over to the GRP. He allegedly claimed that he was not aware of the jewels in the bag but had taken the bag because it was attractive.