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Ambernath Train Phone Snatching Costs Commuter His Leg as Accused Is Held

Police say the arrested suspect confessed he tried to steal the phone to fund drug use.

Overview

  • The victim, 30-year-old Ritesh Rakesh Yerunkar, had boarded a Badlapur-bound fast local at Thane around 11 pm on January 18 and was seated in the luggage compartment.
  • As the train began departing Ambernath around 11:45 pm, a co-passenger allegedly snatched his phone, prompting Yerunkar to stumble into the gap between the train and platform, crushing his left leg.
  • He was taken first to a hospital in Ulhasnagar and then to Mumbai’s KEM Hospital, where doctors amputated his left leg; police say he remains under observation with additional head and facial injuries.
  • Railway personnel and the GRP, with support from the RPF, intercepted the suspect at Ambernath station, and he has been remanded to judicial custody.
  • Investigators booked the accused under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for attempt to murder and culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and officers say he confessed a drug-related motive as the recovered phone was valued at under ₹20,000.