Four held for theft of railway steel channel sleepers

Kochi: Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Friday arrested four men for the alleged theft of steel channel sleepers, a part of railway tracks, from Kalamassery. The arrested persons were identified as Hossain Jamadar, 28 of Baidyapara, Kolkata, Althaf K Ashraf, 30, of Muppathadam, Aluva, Ekbal Shaikh, 33, of Murshidabad and Shafeek S I, 34, of Peringala, Kunnathunadu.According to sources, the alleged theft came to light on Thursday night when Hossain was intercepted near Kalamassery railway station in a pickup van by RPF personnel. During interrogation, he admitted to stealing steel channel sleepers kept near bridge No 191 and named his accomplices. The accused also stated that the stolen materials were sold to a scrap dealer in Peringala.The accused also told RPF that some of the stolen sleepers were hidden in bushes near Kalamassery, and he was trying to retrieve them. Based on a tip-off, RPF conducted a search and arrested the other accused by Friday morning. They also raided the scrap godown owned by Shafeek, leading to the recovery of several stolen steel channel sleepers. He allegedly admitted to procuring 12 such sleepers from the other accused and selling them for approximately Rs 60,000.The RPF registered a case under Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act. The officials also initiated efforts to freeze Shafeek's bank account. The accused, Hossain and Shafeek, were granted interim bail, while the other two were remanded to judicial custody.RPF has also launched a probe to find whether the accused previously committed similar thefts of railway property.