A 43-year-old man from Kerala was arrested from a Tasmac outlet near Coimbatore railway station when he was celebrating the theft of valuables belonging to a passenger on Sunday.

Syeed Ahammed Mubeen, who hails from Vellayil in Kozhikode, was arrested by a joint team of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), its Crime Intelligence Branch (CIB) – Salem and the Government Railway Police (GRP).

According to the RPF, S. Vijay Nagaraj, 41, from Cromepet in Chennai complained that his shoulder bag containing laptop and a few other items went missing when a Chennai-bound train he travelled departed from Coimbatore station around 5.40 p.m. on Sunday.

A joint RPF, CIB Salem and GRP swiftly acted and apprehended Mubeen, who went to a Tasmac outlet close to the railway station, after the theft. He was found with a black shoulder bag containing a laptop valued ₹3 lakh, an earbud priced ₹38,000, driving licence and registration certificate belonging to the complainant.

When questioned, he admitted to having stolen the bag of the passenger. He went to the Tasmac outlet to celebrate the successful theft.

The accused was brought to the GRP station, Coimbatore, where a case was registered against him. He was arrested and produced before the Sixth Judicial Magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.