Russian Tourist's Phone Snatched on Train Recovered in Maharashtra: Railways

New Delhi: The Railway Protection Force and police traced a Russian tourist's phone in Maharashtra after it was snatched from her while she was travelling in a train in Bihar , the Railway Ministry said.

Raids are being carried out to recover the phone and arrest the thief, the ministry said.

Nina Nikonorova's hand was hit with a stick and her mobile phone was snatched when she was recording videos of the Falgu River while travelling on the Gaya-Kamakhya Express on August 17, the ministry said in a statement.

Nikonorova immediately complained to the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Gaya, Sheikhpura and Kamakhya railway stations, it said, adding the GRP and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) launched a coordinated search operation.

"Within days, two individuals, Pintu Kumar and Sajan Kumar, were apprehended. Upon their arrest, the police recovered three stolen mobile phones, although Nina's phone was still missing," the ministry said.

"The suspects soon revealed that the mobile was in possession of Sahil Paswan, a resident of Manpur, Bihar , who allegedly struck Nina and snatched her phone," it said.

It added, "Nina returned to Russia after the trip, but the case took an unexpected turn when she received a notification via her smartphone's iCloud in October that her stolen phone had become active in Nagpur, Maharashtra ." According to the Ministry, she quickly relayed this information to the GRP and RPF team through email, providing them with the phone's latest location and with the help of the app's location data, they traced the stolen phone to Sahil Paswan.

"Further raids are now underway to ensure his arrest and the recovery of the phone," the ministry said. PTI JP SKY SKY