Railway police recover 120 lost phones worth ₹25 lakh in Andhra Pradesh
GRP and RPF recovered 120 lost mobile phones worth about ₹25 lakh in Andhra Pradesh, while a separate operation seized ganja worth ₹19 lakh and arrested five.
Railway police in Andhra Pradesh have recovered 120 mobile phones, together valued at roughly ₹25 lakh, in a joint operation by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF).
The devices had been reported stolen or missing over the past three years from railway stations at Eluru, Gudivada, Machilipatnam and Vijayawada, Deputy Superintendent of Railway Police R.G. Jaya Surya said.
The recovered handsets were shown to the media on Thursday. Railway Police Inspectors J.V. Ramana and M.V. Durga Rao said an IT core team had traced the phones using advanced technology.
RPF Inspectors Fateh Ali Baig and K. Madhusudhan Rao advised passengers against leaving phones near train windows or unattended while charging at night, and urged them to keep the devices locked.
Railway Crime Records Bureau Circle Inspector M. Ashok said passengers who lose a phone should file a complaint by dialling 139 or approaching the nearest police station, and should freeze their bank account without delay.
Ganja seized, five held
In a separate operation, the GRP in Vijayawada and the EAGLE police busted a ganja smuggling racket and arrested five people. A woman peddler linked to the case is absconding.
Acting on directions from IGP-Railways B. Raja Kumari and Superintendent of Railway Police Rahul Dev Singh, several police teams carried out raids and seized ganja stocks valued at about ₹19 lakh. The accused were transporting the contraband to other States, GRP Circle Inspector Ramana said.
The arrested were identified as Pratap Chhatria, Pramood Chhatria and Bishikeshan Jani of Odisha, and Prakash and Yogesh of Karnataka. Crime Intelligence Branch official Madhusudhan Rao said another accused, Teju, wife of Yogesh, is on the run.