Thieves pose as Bihar govt officers, steal 60-foot iron bridge with locals' help

Police said the thieves took help of the local government personnel on the pretext of being officers of the irrigation department, and did the crime in broad daylight.

In a strange incident, a 60-feet-long abandoned iron bridge was stolen by thieves in the Bikramganj subdivision area in Bihar's Rohtas district on Friday. Police said the thieves arrived with pickup vans, gas cutters, JCBs, and vehicles, and took three days to cut off the entire bridge before disappearing.

The 60-feet long, and 12-feet high bridge was built over the Ara canal in Amiyavar village in around 1972. (ANI Photo)

Junior engineer of the state irrigation department, Arshad Kamal Shamshi told ANI that villagers said some people “posing as the officials” of the department had come to the dilapidated and abandoned canal bridge and uprooted it completely with the help of the equipment.

Police said that the thieves even took the help of the personnel from the local department on the pretext of being government officers and carried out the crime in broad daylight.

Realising they have been tricked, Shamshi further told ANI that the officers of the irrigation department filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the Nasriganj police station.

The sudden vanishing of the 60-feet long, and 12-feet high bridge has shocked everyone in the area. It was built over the Ara canal in Amiyavar village in around 1972.