Gang that dug up wires outside Parliament busted

NEW DELHI: A gang of thieves that stole phone cables from Lutyens’ Delhi bungalows was busted and all 10 members arrested on Wednesday. They were caught in the act at a VIP bungalow near Barakhamba Road.
The same gang had earlier dug up wires outside Parliament, affecting telephone lines at security posts. The men were identified as Manoj Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Satya Prakash, Manglu, Kishanpal, Arvind, Aalam Mashuri, Raj Kumar, Rahul Kumar and Anil. They would pose as MTNL workmen and excavate the wires. Several metres of wire was seized from them, which they would have melt for copper and sold them off.

Police had been receiving complaints about stolen cables from the telephone company. DCP (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said a patrol team near Firoz Shah Road spotted them digging a pit behind a bush and confronted them. They claimed to be workers from the telephone department, but couldn’t produce any identification. They were detained and interrogated during which they admitted to have stolen wires from elsewhere as well. They used to load the wires in an autorickshaw and drive to a colony in south Delhi where these would be melt and sold off.

Manoj and Ajay supervised the theft, others formed teams and went into pits that would be three or four feet deep. They would pull out the cables and cut them into small pieces and load them into an autorickshaw. The money thus earned would be split among them.

Police said all of them were addicted to drugs and alcohol and spend all their money on them.