2 held for stealing streetlight poles, selling as scrap

Lucknow: Late Saturday, police arrested two individuals of a gang that allegedly stole nearly 72 streetlight poles across the city and sold them to scrap dealers over time.

According to police, the accused, Anjeet Rawat (23) and Shobhit Yadav (19), both residents of Baghamau village were arrested near Bandha road with aluminium streetlight worth around ₹25,000 from their possession.

The case came to light after Sumant Singh, chief security officer of Shalimar Corp Ltd, lodged a complaint on May 7, alleging that dozens of poles had gone missing from the steel yard of Shalimar One World township.

“During investigation, police found that the accused, along with several accomplices, had allegedly stolen 72 steel and aluminium poles over a period of time and sold them to scrap dealers in and around the city,” said Sudheer Awasthi, SHO of Gomti Nagar extension.

He also said that the arrested accused already have criminal records. Anjeet Rawat was previously booked in a 2023 case involving rape, unnatural sex, extortion and IT Act charges at Alambagh police station, while Shobhit Yadav is named in a culpable homicide case registered in 2025 at Gomti Nagar Extension police station.

Police said that seven other accusedare still absconding, and efforts are underway to nab them, and recover the stolen poles.