New Delhi:
Four men were arrested in the Capital while they were allegedly stealing MTNL cables in the guise of repair work, police said today.
They were apprehended while they were cutting the cable in the manhole near government quarters in Kasturba Nagar on February 7.
The arrested have been identified as Rajender (31), Sunil Sadhu (24), Shahid (27) and Vijay (26).
"Initially Rajender tried to mislead the police officers by telling that he was working for an MTNL contractor. He was carrying a file cover to project that he had been tasked to conduct repair work," Ashok Chand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said.
Sub-Divisional Engineer (Cable), Jor Bagh Exchange, was then requested to reach the spot. He came and clarified that these people have not been contracted by MTNL and they are committing theft of cable following which they were arrested.
Twenty-six feet of stolen MTNL cable were recovered from them, police said.
"Rajender, the gang leader, disclosed that he surveyed the areas to decide where to commit the theft of cable. The gang then committed the theft between 6 am and 9.30 am.
"He parked his car near the manhole and stood near the car with a file cover pretending as if he is overseeing the work. The gang opened the manhole and went down while Rajender stood outside keeping watch.
"They used cutters and saws to cut the heavy cables into smaller pieces. They then used a chain pulley to pull the cable out. All efforts were made to finish the job before 9.30 am," Chand said.
The copper cables were then sold to a scrap dealer in Jhandewalan area. He has been identified and efforts are on to apprehend him.
Rajender is allegedly involved in four such similar cases of MTNL cable theft Khajoori Khas, Janakpuri, IP Estate and Lodhi Colony. From his ill-gotten gains, he has recently bought a house in Trilokpuri and a brand new car, claim police.
Sunil and Vijay have previous involvement in criminal cases while Shahid has no criminal record. "They used to get Rs 1,000 for a day's work," Chand said.