Railway police arrested a 30-year-old youth while he was trying to offer poisoned food to a passenger at platform No 1 in Tatanagar station with the intention to rob him.
He was later identified as Sumit Mandal, the railway cops recovered AT-1 tablets (anti-anxiety drugs) and sleeping pills from his possession. Besides, the things recovered from Mandal include two stolen smartphones and cash. Mandal, who is a resident of Deoghar while facing interrogation, confessed that he is one of the members of the gang that steals valuables from the passengers on the trains as well as on platforms by drugging them.
An official of RPF, Tatanagar, said that they could identify Mandal during scanning of the CCTV control panel as the RPF cops dealing in the monitoring were already aware about the accused.
The RPF inspector said that the arrested person has revealed the names of some of his associates who also come to the station for committing such theft. The inspector said such criminals befriend lone passengers as they wait for trains. Once the passenger consumes the food, he either loses his senses or falls asleep, and the next moment the criminal escapes with the victim’s luggage.