In Mumbai, road and pavement repair work is an all-weather phenomenon. What was assumed to be similar work carried out by the MMRDA turned out to be a case of robbery. A shocking instance has come to light from Dadar where thieves dug a footpath and stole MTNL's copper cable worth Rs 6-7 lakh. The police have arrested five accused in the case.
The incident took place on Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg in Dadar-Matunga. A local living here noticed the incident. The pavement was dug up and the cable was stolen from it. The price of copper cable is Rs 845 per kg. According to reports, the thieves stole cables worth Rs 6-7 lakh. According to sources, similar incidents are likely to occur in Matunga, King's Circle, Wadala, and Shivaji Park areas.
Locals noticed that the 2-3-metre-wide footpath between King's Circle and Dadar TT Circle had been dug in the middle and raised suspicions. The locals then contacted the BMC. Interestingly, the BMC had dug the same footpath 15 days ago for work. After it was restored, it was re-dug at the same site. After the residents brought it to the notice of the BMC, civic officials reached out to assess the situation. It was then discovered that the thieves had stolen copper wires from utility cables under the sidewalk.
"Even after the first week of June, the pavement work was not completed. So I went to the municipal office to complain about it. That's when I got to know that copper wires had been stolen from these cables. The theft took place just after 11 pm when the thieves dug up the pavement and took the cable. This is very shocking," said Nikhil Desai, a resident of Wadala and a social activist.
The Matunga police decided to probe the matter after state-run telecom company MTNL also complained alleging that more than 400 telephone lines had tripped in the Dadar-Matunga area. "We are still doing repair work. This has happened mainly around Dadar TT Circle, where 105 meters of copper wire worth lakhs of rupees has been stolen," an MTNL official said.
How did the accused get caught?There was still copper wire left in the place where the thieves had dug it. So there was a possibility that the thieves would return. The police laid a trap and arrested five persons red-handed on Sunday night. "We were waiting for the thieves in a private car on Sunday night. When they came with the contractor's staff, we stopped them and arrested them. All the five accused are scrap dealers and had planned to earn money by selling copper wires," said Senior Police Inspector Deepak Chavan of Matunga police station.
Police officials investigating the case said the robbers were digging a small portion of the footpath every day. More people are likely to be involved in the crime. "These five people have other partners because only five people couldn't dig up the whole area. We are looking for others in his gang," said a police officer from Matunga police station.