JOIN USHe is a mechanical engineer but had a different passion—to drug and loot wealthy rail passengers travelling in upper class compartments, especially in air-conditioned(AC) coaches of long distance trains.
Meet 37-year-old P K Mohapatra, a native of Mayurbhanj district in north Odisha, who has been arrested by the Government Railway Police(GRP) here in connection with nearly 18 cases of drugging and looting of rail passengers.
Mohapatra’s modus operandi has a striking resemblance with that of Charles Sobhraj, the famous international conman wanted and jailed in several countries across the globe including India. He would enter into an air-conditioned compartment of long distance trains with a valid ticket. Suave and fluent in English, he used to befriend with his co-passengers posing as a gentleman and occasionally dropping the names of bigwigs before offering them biscuits laced with drug substances and later, he would flee with their valuables.
He, however, ran out of luck last Friday when railway policemen in plain clothes arrested him while he was boarding a long distance train at the Bhubaneswar railway station. He was wanted by the Odisha police since 2009.
After a search, police recovered six wallets, five ATM cards and mobile phones besides gold ornaments from Mohapatra.
If GRP officials are to be believed, several cases are also pending against him in railway police stations in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
Police investigation also revealed that Mohapatra had not confined his conman activities to trains alone. He had allegedly stolen cash and other valuables of a guest in the neighbouring room while staying in a low cost hotel here recently.
Similarly, he had also reportedly managed to steal ATM cards and other valuables of some guests after walking into a hotel here along with his wife and kid.
Interestingly, Mohapatra belongs to an affluent family. His father is a retired personnel of the Odisha Administrative Service(OAS) officer and his brother is a doctor.