4 months after Mumbai doctor loses hand in train bag-snatching, suspect held

Mumbai GRP arrested Mohammad Saif, a thief with 33 cases, for a robbery that left doctor Dr. Yogesh Deshmukh crippled after a train incident.

MUMBAI: Four months after a robbery on the Nanded Express left a Mumbai doctor crippled for life, the Kurla Government Railway Police (GRP) on Sunday finally tracked down the accused—a hardened thief with a trail of over 30 cases—arresting him in Kozhikode, Kerala.

The accused, identified as Mohammad Saif alias Asgar Ali Chowdhury, 42, was once a hawker selling trinkets on local trains.(AFP/Representational Image)

The accused, identified as Mohammad Saif alias Asgar Ali Chowdhury, 42, was once a hawker selling trinkets on local trains. But his petty trade spiralled into a career of chain- and bag-snatching across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), leaving behind a string of complaints.

On June 4, physician Dr Yogesh Deshmukh, 50, was travelling with his wife, Dr Deepali, and their nine-year-old son to their native village on the Nanded Express. As the family dozed, Saif pounced—snatching Deepali’s handbag with cash, bank cards and essentials, and bolting towards the door.

According to senior inspector Sambhaji Yadav, Saif has at least 33 cases registered against him across the country. “In Kozhikode too, he injured a woman in a similar purse-snatching incident. That’s how we were tipped off about his arrest and tracked him,” Yadav said.

A Kurla railway court on Monday ordered a test identification parade before September 26, where Dr Deshmukh, his wife, and co-passengers who witnessed the robbery will identify the accused.

The heist has upended Dr Deshmukh and his family’s life. He remains in shock, as doctors prepare him for a possible hand transplant. “He has not yet recovered from the trauma. His future as a doctor is uncertain,” said a family member.