Kanpur Police have busted an inter-district gang allegedly engaged in stealing electricity transformers and their wiring across Uttar Pradesh, arresting eight people, including a scrap dealer accused of buying the stolen material, The CSR Journal reported. India Today also reported the bust, putting the number of arrests at eight and the aluminium wire seized at 164 kg.

Source: The CSR Journal

According to police, the arrests were made in a joint operation by the Chaubeypur police, SWAT and surveillance teams of the West Zone, acting on a tip-off. The teams intercepted a black Scorpio vehicle and detained the seven men travelling inside it.

Police said they recovered Rs 68,000 in cash, eight bundles of aluminium wire weighing 164 kg, copper binding weighing 98 kg and three transformer coils from the vehicle. The suspects allegedly told interrogators that the cash had come from selling internal components of transformers stolen earlier.

8people arrested
164 kgaluminium wire seized
98 kgcopper binding seized
Rs 68,000cash recovered

Police named the seven men held from the Scorpio as Ranjeet Srivastava (47), Umesh Gupta (35), Chandan (24), Alok Pandey (30), Devansh Dubey (20), Aditya Mishra (23) and Gautam Rajput alias Thapa (31). They are residents of Kanpur, although some have their origins in Fatehpur and West Bengal, police said. The eighth person arrested was described as a scrap dealer accused of purchasing the stolen material.

Police said the gang allegedly operated across several districts, including Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, Lucknow and Fatehpur, and that cases had been registered against its members at police stations in Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, Fatehpur and Lucknow. Of the accused, Alok Pandey reportedly carries the highest number of previous cases, including charges of theft and buying stolen property — all allegations that remain to be tested in court.

The Scorpio, which police said belongs to accused Ranjeet Srivastava, was seized under Section 207 of the Motor Vehicles Act. All eight accused have been sent to judicial custody, The CSR Journal reported.

Source: India Today via My Press Today

Police said the investigation is continuing and teams are pursuing leads to identify other possible accomplices. The theft of transformers and cable repeatedly knocks out power supply in the areas targeted, and police said residents should report suspicious activity around electrical installations.