Gang of 6 held for stealing copper wires worth Rs 1.85 lakh

On August 21, Thane police got a tip-off that some people were on their way to steal the copper wire from a transformer near Kalyan Phata road.The car was intercepted at around 4:34 am.

Six men were arrested for allegedly stealing 450 kgs of copper wires worth Rs 1.85 lakh from electric transformers in Shil Daighar and Dombivli.

A gang of six have been arrested from Shil Daighar by Thane police for stealing copper wires from electric transformers which led to repeated power outages in the area. (HT Photo)

Police have seized goods worth Rs 5.4 lakh.

The arrested accused are identified as Prakash alias Dheeraj Rajbahadur Singh, 24; Sashi alias Raju Mendis Dhole, 40, Ashish Mohanlal Gupta, 24; Abhishekh Pradip Lad, 25; Farhan Dawood Shaikh, 23; and Mukesh Ramnand Choudhari, 39.

Chandrakant Jadhav, senior police inspector of Shil Daighar police station, said, “Several cases of copper wire theft from transformers were reported in Dombivli and Shil Daighar in the past few days.”

“On August 21, we got a tip-off that some people were on their way to steal the copper wire from a transformer near Kalyan Phata road. We intercepted the car around 4:34am,” said Jadhav.

According to police, three people were inside the car.

They tried running away when the police stopped them for questioning. The accused were taken to the police station along with the car.

Jadhav said, “We found cutters, saws and spanners among other equipment in the car. On questioning, the three accused — Singh, Dhole and Gupta — confessed that they were on their way to steal copper wires. They informed us about their three other accomplices. We arrested them on August 22.”

The police recovered 450kgs of copper wire which the gang had stolen from various places.

“The accused had carried out similar robberies in Kharghar and Kamothe. Two cases were registered against them in Daighar police station. The cost of the copper wire is Rs 1.85 lakh. We have seized goods worth Rs 5.4 lakh,” Jadhav said.