Habitual offender caught for molesting policeman's wife in moving train
His identity was ascertained with the help of photos developed from the CCTV camera.
Mumbai: The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested a 26-year-old habitual offender for molesting a policeman’s wife in a moving train early February. The woman was cornered inside the ladies coach and the accused tried to molest her after shutting one of the doors of the fast train, when the woman jumped out of it near Masjid station.
The accused, later identified as Samir Karimulla Shaikh alias Ashrafali, was finally tracked down at Churchgate station after painstaking search and scanning of CCTV camera footage in south Mumbai. The police said that the incident took place on February 2 at around 8.20am, after the woman boarded a train from platform 3 of CSMT.
The train was deserted at the time and soon after it left, Shaikh jumped into the coach, the officers said. The accused was asked to alight by the woman, stating it was a reserved coach however he did not respond.
“When the train did not halt at Masjid station, the accused shut a door and approached her. The woman warned and said that she is the wife of a policeman but he held her hand. The woman finally escaped and jumped from the train, sustaining three stitches on her head,” said Purshottam Karad, deputy commissioner of police, GRP.
The officials said that the woman was rushed to the hospital and the police later found that Shaikh had alighted at Sandhurst Road station and walked to the Imambada area. The officials further scanned the CCTV camera footage of the area and found that he was last seen at Nagpada’s red light area. The police subsequently ascertained his identity with the help of photos developed from the CCTV camera footage.
“We also found that on the day of the incident, the accused had entered the CSMT station from the subway and had come there from Churchgate. He was found loitering near the SNDT girls’ college, hence, we also kept surveillance there,” said Karad.
On Monday, the police spotted Shaikh walking on Churchgate station. When the personnel tried to stop him, he jumped the fence and sprinted outside the station. The police finally nabbed him after chasing him a few metres.