Mohd Naushad and Moni Singh used to pass off as a couple and take their seats in the train but their action would begin only after their fellow passengers had gone off to sleep, police said.
The duo, who have been notorious for stealing wallets with huge money and expensive articles, have travelled 28 times on various routes in the past three months and this prompted the police to smell a rat.
Police launched investigations into a complaint filed by a woman, who travelled on Ludhiana-Jaipur Rajdhani Express on October 30, that she lost 2 diamond bangles, iPod, an expensive mobile phone and three other less expensive mobile besides credit and debit cards.
After going into the travel records, police zeroed-in on Mohd Naushad alias Ahmed Raza who always travelled with a lady without any "valuable reason".
Again the travel ticket booked online gave a tip that the 'couple' were to travel to Jammu on November one from New Delhi railway station.
"They were arrested. Moni Singh used to travel in the name of Praveen or Yasmeen. Mohd Naushad disclosed that he used to travel in AC coaches because the passengers carry jewellery, cash, mobile phone, I-Pod and Laptop etc travel in AC coaches," a senior police official said.
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Ladies purse were the priced treasure and Moni Singh used to deposit her share in a bank account at Lucknow.
"Mohd Naushad @ Ahmed Raza used to deposit the money in his wife's Ismat account. He recently purchased a flat in Shastri Nagar worth Rs 7 lakh where he has made an advance payment of Rs 4 lakh," the official said.