Six held for mid-sea theft from dredger near Alang

Rajkot: Six persons were arrested on Wednesday night for involvement in the mid-sea theft of equipment worth Rs 1 crore from dredger Shanti Sagar XVI while it was on its way from Mundra port in Kutch to Ghogha in Bhavnagar.
Officials of the local crime branch (LCB) in Bhavnagar arrested the accused on the basis of a tip-off that those involved in the theft were at Sainath weigh-bridge near Manar crossroads on the way to Alang ship breaking yard.

“Acting on a tip-off, we raided the spot and arrested the accused who confessed to the crime,” Bhavnagar LCB inspector D M Mishra told media persons on Thursday.

Those arrested were identified as Nondha Solanki (26), a resident of Talaja of Bhavnagar district; Ajay Chauhan alias Dendu (19), a resident of Methala village of Talaja taluka; Nagji Baraiya (35), Mukesh Baraiya (26) and Dinesh Baraiya (23), all residents of Methala village and Munna Kantaria alias Katar (19), a resident of Sartanpar village in Talaja taluka.

“During interrogation, the accused said they had sold off a portion of the looted booty which was worth Rs 27 lakh. However, we have been able to recover the remaining goods worth Rs 73.27 lakh from them,” said Mishra, adding that one more accused, identified as Dhana Bhalia, a resident of Gorkhi village of Talaja taluka, was yet to be arrested.

The dredger, which is the property of Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), was given contract to do the dredging work at Ghogha terminal of the Ghogha-Dahej Ro-Ro ferry service launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

The thieves had stolen heavy ropes, steel wires, hydraulic motors and other brass items from the dredger while it was in mid-sea. Besides these heavy equipment, thieves also stolen television sets and refrigerators on the 104m long vessel that can dredge up to 29m depth.

Police inspector N M Mandera of Bhavnagar marine police said the dredger had left Mundra port on March 13 and reached Ghogha port on March 17.

A tugboat had brought the dredger, with no crew member on board, to Ghogha. On March 18, when officials of the dredging company came and inspected the vessel, they found some equipment missing. Following this, they lodged a theft complaint. The first information report (FIR) was lodged by Ratan Vupulori (55), deputy manager with APSEZ.