The Government Railway Police (GRP) have cracked the chain-snatching case aboard the Sarkar Express and arrested a key member of the Bawaria gang from Rajasthan, officials said on Sunday (June 21, 2026).

The accused, identified as Sonu (35), son of Biramdal and a resident of Talwara Jheel village in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, was arrested at around 1 p.m. on Saturday (June 20, 2026) at Bapatla railway station.

According to the police, six members of the Bawaria gang travelling on the Chengalpattu-Kakinada Port Sarkar Express allegedly pulled the alarm chain near Nagaraju Canal close to Appikatla railway station at around 1 a.m. on the night of June 14-15, forcing the train to halt.

The gang then allegedly snatched gold chains weighing a total of 75 grams from two women passengers travelling in coaches S-3 and S-6 before attempting to flee.

When train escort personnel, including ARPC Kondepi Sai, and passengers tried to stop them, the accused allegedly attacked them with stones, catapults and knives, attempting to kill the escort staff. The police said the accused ignored repeated warnings, prompting escort personnel to open fire in self-defence.

ARPCs V. Ravi Kumar and K. Bala Venkata Reddy, along with Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel M. Alexander and M. Venkata Naga Raju, reportedly fired 10 rounds from a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), after which the suspects escaped.

A case was registered at the Tenali GRP station under Sections 66(1), 109(1) and 310(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The investigation, supervised by DIG B. Satya Yesu Babu, SP Rahul Dev Singh and Senior DSC, RPF, Vijayawada, Shanmuga Vadivel, was led by DSRP P. Akkeswara Rao, helped by special teams.

The police said Sonu confessed during interrogation that the Bawaria gang had been involved in at least 12 cases of alarm chain pulling and signal tampering across the Guntur Railway Police Sub-Division over the past two years, including incidents reported at Nadikudi, New Piduguralla, Tummalacheruvu, Donakonda, Appikatla and Nidubrolu.

Five other accused from Rajasthan and Haryana remain absconding, and special teams have been dispatched to Rajasthan to trace them. Further investigation is under way.