<p>He 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. <br /><br /></p>.<p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />After a search, police recovered six wallets, five ATM cards and mobile phones besides gold ornaments from Mohapatra.<br /><br />If GRP officials are to be believed, several cases are also pending against him in railway police stations in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /></p>
<p>He 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. <br /><br /></p>.<p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />After a search, police recovered six wallets, five ATM cards and mobile phones besides gold ornaments from Mohapatra.<br /><br />If GRP officials are to be believed, several cases are also pending against him in railway police stations in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /></p>
