Agra, Jan 24 (IANS): The former principal of a government-aided inter-college in Uttar Pradesh's Etawah district, who was terminated from his post following charges of corruption, has been arrested along with his son for robbing train passengers.

The accused were arrested by the government railway police (GRP) during a routine check at Agra Fort railway station.

Superintendent of Police (SP) GRP Mohammad Mushtaq said, "The father-son duo are residents of Firozabad district, but they had been living in a rented accommodation in Madhu Nagar locality of Agra district. They were spotted by our team during a routine inspection at the Agra Fort railway station.

"During interrogation, Naresh revealed that he resorted to criminal activities after he was laid off from his post as a college principal. Since then, he had been impersonating as a police inspector and Aryan had been his partner in crime while carrying out robberies on trains operating on different routes and in waiting rooms at the railway stations. They specifically targeted passengers travelling in AC coaches."

Officials said that they had been searching for Naresh Chand, 52, after his name surfaced in an incident of robbery with a foreign national in the Marudhar Express two months ago.

While he has six criminal cases pending against him in Jhansi, Etawah and Agra districts, his 24-year-old son Aryan is an accused in eight criminal cases registered in Agra and Firozabad districts.

Police said items worth Rs 12 lakh were recovered from the duo, including 96.5 grams of gold jewellery, 475 grams of silverware, two laptops, 112 trolley bags and wallets, branded clothes, accessories and other items.

GRP Agra Fort station in charge, Yadram Singh, said, "The two accused used to sell the stolen items to maintain a lavish lifestyle. Besides theft cases, Naresh has two cases of extortion pending against him in Agra."