Police trap train jewellery thief through digital forensics

The Kerala Police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) have arrested a 38-year-old social media influencer from Tamil Nadu for stealing 47 sovereigns of gold jewellery from a 66-year-old woman aboard the Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram Mail. The accused, Balamurugan, was traced to his rented house in Coimbatore after a week-long investigation involving the examination of nearly 600 CCTV recordings.

The theft took place on November 3 when Kumari, 66, travelling in a reserved coach, found that the gold ornaments kept under her berth were missing. She had saved the jewellery for her granddaughter’s wedding. The police have recovered 36.42 sovereigns of the stolen gold.

After the theft, Balamurugan allegedly switched trains between Chennai and Salem before reaching Palakkad to avoid digital tracking. He got off at Palakkad railway station, took an autorickshaw to the KSRTC bus stand and travelled in five different buses to mislead the police. He also wore a mask, changed clothes and covered his forehead with his hands whenever he spotted surveillance cameras.

The breakthrough came when the police examined people seen wearing masks near Palakkad railway station around the time of the theft. A list of 10 suspects was prepared and narrowed down to five before Balamurugan was identified.

A special team of the State police, RPF and cyber experts used digital forensics, social media analysis, location tracking, financial transaction records and nearly 600 surveillance camera recordings to trace him to Coimbatore.

The investigation revealed that Balamurugan had acted in films and short films and was skilled in video editing. He also had a large social media following and reportedly led a lavish lifestyle. He had earlier spent around 40 days in jail in connection with the theft of a passenger’s laptop on a train in Madurai.

Police sources said that they suspected him to be a key member of an interstate gang targeting train passengers’ luggage. The operation was conducted under the supervision of Railway SP R. Krishnakumar and RPF Divisional Security Commissioner Ambu P. Kumar. RPF DySP Manoj, assistant security commissioner Anil, inspector A. Prathap and personnel from the RPF and its Crime Intelligence Branch were part of the investigation team.

Published - November 11, 2026 08:43 pm IST