Gujarat scrap dealers nabbed for stealing transformers

NEW DELHI: Three scrap dealers in Gujarat were arrested for their alleged involvement in stealing two BSES transformers from Chandni Chowk. Police seized a truck

NEW DELHI: Three scrap dealers in Gujarat were arrested for their alleged involvement in stealing two BSES transformers from Chandni Chowk. Police seized a truck containing two transformers, each weighing seven tonnes and worth Rs 70- Rs 80 lakh in total.

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Niru Bhai, Asif and Shoaib Bhai hired drivers to ferry the stolen transformers and prepared fake sales tax forms to take them into the state.

On July 31, a BSES senior manager filed a complaint that two transformers — kept in the open to be installed a few days later — were stolen.

CCTV footage from the area showed a suspicious truck. Tracing its registration number led the police to driver Zia-ud- Din. “… (he) said he was engaged to load the stolen transformers by a broker, Javed, who ran the transport shop in Faridabad, ” said deputy commissioner of police (north) Madhur Verma.

Javed’s questioning eventually led police to one Niru Bhai in Gujarat, who allegedly ordered the transformers. “All the transformers … were transported and unloaded in Alang, Gujrat. Nirubhai was traced with the help of call detail records and arrested,” said Verma.

Niru Bhai said he sold the transformers to another scrap dealer, Asif, in Gujarat’s Kumbarwada. Asif, who was also arrested, said he bought the transformers from Niru B ha if or `9 lakh and kept it in a vacant plot.

The two of them revealed that Shoaib Bhai prepared fake papers in the name of his company, Apollo Traders, to take them into Gujarat. Shoaib was also arrested. “BSES officials are also involved and have been identified. Raids are in progress to nab them,” Verma said.