He lost a leg in a snatching attempt, got a prosthetic limb — it led cops to him

The purse contained a Samsung S-25 mobile phone, Aadhaar card, Rs 15,000 cash, a charger and a 56-gram gold chain.

A case was registered and a team led by Inspector Lalit Kumar, under the supervision of ACP Sanjay Bhardwaj, was formed. It got to work, examining CCTV recordings from locations between Patel Nagar and Zakhira Flyover.

His leg gave him away

Footage from the Nehru Nagar and Gali No. 9 areas yielded a vital clue: it showed two suspects repeatedly moving around the railway line, boarding the slow-moving Ranikhet Express and subsequently getting off the train.

That’s when the team also noticed that one of them was walking strangely.

“We examined the movement of the suspects frame by frame. The way one of them walked stood out during the analysis. This helped us correlate the CCTV footage from different locations and develop the identity of the suspect,” a police officer said.

Acting on the information, police apprehended Dilshad near Zakhira Flyover within four hours of the incident around 5 am. During questioning, he allegedly told police of Hassan’s involvement.

Police said Dilshad also admitted that the two had allegedly made two unsuccessful attempts to snatch mobile phones from passengers in different coaches of the same train before targeting Sharma.

Hassan was subsequently caught on August 26 near the railway track at Ganda Nala, Inderlok underpass.

Police recovered the complainant’s gold chain weighing approximately 56 grams and her Samsung S-25 phone.

Police also recovered another gold chain from Dilshad’s jhuggi, which he allegedly said was snatched from a woman near Zakhira Flyover around 15 days earlier.

“Investigation showed that the accused had developed a pattern of targeting slow-moving trains near Sarai Rohilla Railway station. They would board at suitable points, look for vulnerable passengers and attempt to escape quickly after the offence,” the office said.

“It is particularly concerning that despite having lost his leg during an alleged snatching incident several years ago, Hassan allegedly continued to engage in similar offences. His prosthetic limb and distinctive gait, however, ultimately became an important clue for the investigation team,” said Dr Anand Dabhi, DCP, Railway/Metro.

Police said the recoveries have strengthened the case against the accused and they are now examining their possible involvement in other railway-area snatching incidents.