India, May 29 -- Local train commuters are urging the police to increase patrolling and install CCTV cameras along the tracks after the notorious "fatka gang" resumed its activities, striking twice in a span of two days in the Kalyan-Thane belt.

The fatka gang is a group of notorious robbers stationed near the railway tracks who target passengers standing on the footboard of local trains by attacking their hands with sticks and stones, causing their phones to fall out of the train. The gang members then pick up the dropped phones and run away. The gang derived its name from the Marathi word "fatka", which means a hit. It has been operating for several years.

On May 25, a woman travelling from Vasai to Thane in a general ladies coach was...