Bridge theft in Bihar: Kingpin arrested

The police in Bihar’s Rohtas district on Tuesday arrested the alleged kingpin in the case in which an iron bridge was dismantled and stolen in April, officials said.

The police in Bihar’s Rohtas district on Tuesday arrested the alleged kingpin in the case in which an iron bridge was dismantled and stolen in April, officials said.

The 50-year-old bridge being dismantled. (HT Photo)

The arrested man was identified as Gandhi Chaudhary, who is wanted in 19 cases of robbery, dacoity, extortion, liquor smuggling and sand mining in Bihar, Jharkhand and other states. He had been absconding since 2017, police said.

The 50-year-old bridge was 60 feet long, 10 feet wide and 12 feet high. It was constructed over Ara Main canal at Amiyawar village in Rohtas district in 1972. It was dismantled and stolen in the first week of April by men posing as irrigation department officials. They used an earth mover and gas cutters for three days to execute the operation.

A case was lodged on April 6 by the junior engineer of the irrigation department. A special investigation team (SIT) later arrested an assistant engineer and a contractual employee of the water resource department, who were among eight accused, on April 10.

“The earth mover, gas cutters and 2.5 quintals of scrap was recovered. But the SIT was still looking for the mastermind Gandhi Chaudhary,” superintendent of police (SP) Ashish Bharti said.