A gang which allegedly used to steal underground telephone cables in the garb of MTNL officials in South Delhi area has been busted with the arrest of four persons and recovery of stolen wire worth Rs six lakh.
The accused, identified as Moin (24), Manjer Alam (25), Mohd Shakeel (22) and Triveni Singh (40) were arrested by STF, South district yesterday.
"With their arrest, an Eicher Canter truck, used for pulling up underground MTNL cables and for their further transportation was also recovered. Stolen MTNL cable worth Rs six lakh has also been recovered and nine cases of MTNL cable thefts reported in different police stations of South District have been solved," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) B S Jaiswal.
There have been several incidents of MTNL cable thefts in different areas of South Delhi and during investigations it was learnt that a gang led by Shafique Kabadi and Masoom were involved in such cases. It was further revealed that both accused have roped in several labourers in their gang and have also hired a truck to transport the stolen goods, he said.
Recently, an incident of MTNL cable theft was also reported at Mehrauli. In this case, the thieves had arrived in the garb of MTNL employees, dug up cables in service lane near TB Hospital, Mehrauli the intervening night of 11/12 August and decamped with it.
The police team managed to nab the four accused persons along with an Eicher Canter truck, loaded with stolen cables.
"During interrogation, it was revealed that Shafique Kabadi had earlier worked as a casual labour contractor with MTNL and had been associated with the work of laying underground cables in South Delhi area. In this way, he knew the exact points from where underground cable could easily be cut open and pulled off," said Jaiswal.
He employed Masoom who further roped in some other boys hailing from his native village in Bihar and arranged for their accommodation in Sarai Kale Khan Area. Shafique had also hired a Canter mini truck for Rs 3,000 per night for transporting the stolen goods and the labourers.
"Shafique and Masoom used to move in their I-10 car and remained near the spot, so that in case of any exigency, they could alarm their associates. He would cordon off the digging area and guide his labourers posing as MTNL employees, if any police patrol enquired," said Jaiswal.
Further investigations are on and efforts are on to nab other accused and receivers of stolen property, police said.
