The incident took place under the jurisdiction of Gomtipur police station. The defendants were charged with trespassing and damaging public property. They have been identified as: Cudini Gianluca, 24 years old, resident of Tortoreto; Baldo Sacha, 29 years old, resident of Monte San Vato; Starinieri Daniele, 21 years old, resident of Spoltore; and Capecci Paolo, 27 years old; Grottammare.
Officials say four men entered the Apparel Park station and spray-painted ‘TAS’ on a Metro train carriage on Friday.
Acting on input shared by Mumbai police, four men were tracked down to the Kothawala apartment in Paldi. A team from the Gujarat ATS (Anti-Terrorism Team) and the city crime branch picked them up on Friday night.
“We kept them after learning they were seen re-enacting the Ahmedabad metro just before it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. However, then it turned out that it was nothing serious and they drew graffiti for fun,” an ATS employee said.
City crime branch officials say the four men were part of a larger group that visited locations around the globe and spray-painted graffiti on trains. Previously, these graffiti artists were involved in a similar incident reported in Kochi where they sprayed paint – ‘Splash’ and ‘Burn’ on four subway cars; they were allegedly involved in such incidents in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai.
“There have been four FIRs filed against these graffiti artists. They painted graffiti on the entire train in Kochi in May. Such incidents have also been reported in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai. This is the fifth incident of a derailed Metro train,” said the crime branch officer. Sources from the city’s police said the Italian nationals had Indian tourist visas and landed in the city on Wednesday.
They first arrived in Dubai from where they flew to Mumbai and then to Ahmedabad. The group then drew graffiti on Thursday and Friday nights.
