9 held for attempted theft of telecom cables worth 40 lakh in Hadapsar

Pune: Wanowrie police arrested nine men for allegedly attempting to steal underground copper cables worth Rs40 lakh belonging to a telecom company from the Hadapsar Industrial Area in the early hours of Saturday. Police said the gang used a crane, truck and motorcycle to pull cables from an underground duct along a road around 3am. The search is on for five more suspects involved in the theft.Senior inspector Bhausaheb Patil said the accused used hired labourers and the help of two local residents to extract the cables. "The suspects carried out the operation in a manner that made passersby believe authorised work was underway by civic authorities or a private company," Patil said.The arrested accused were identified as Aslam Khan (39), Salman Idris Malik (33), both from Delhi, Aarif Khan (40) and Navi Mohammed (35), both from Bulandshahr, Shoeb Khan (25) of Ghaziabad, Naresh Shrishivcharan (43) of Bhiwani, Anis Ansari Giyasuddin (22) and Asfaq Ansari (22), both from Bettiah, and Pravin Bagul (33) of Hadapsar in Pune."Aslam Khan and his associates are also wanted in similar offences registered in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Navi Mumbai," Patil said. Police seized the crane, truck and motorcycle used in the crime.Patil said a police patrol team spotted the suspects while the theft was in progress. "When questioned, some of them tried to flee, which raised suspicion and exposed the theft," he said.Police said the telecom cables, laid around 20 years ago, were no longer in use. During interrogation, the accused allegedly admitted that they had identified another spot in Hadapsar to target next. Police suspect the gang may be linked to similar copper cable thefts reported in Chatushrungi, Shivajinagar and Alankar police station limits over the past six months.