Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
A gang posing as authorised contractors of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was caught stealing defunct underground copper cables in the city. The crime branch arrested two accused red-handed, while two others escaped under cover of darkness.
Senior inspector Gajanan Kalyankar identified the arrested as Santosh Shinde (Hingoli) and Kiran alias Vishal Pawar (Buldhana). Around 3.30 am, a patrol team led by police sub inspector Abhijit Chikhalkar found suspicious activity in a road chamber near the District and Sessions Court. The duo claimed to be contractors, but questioning exposed the theft. Two accomplices fled. A case has been registered at Vedantnagar police station. Police seized two goods vehicles, cable-cutting tools and around 400 pairs of copper wires, each 200 metres long, collectively worth Rs 3.5 lakh. Officials said large quantities of defunct BSNL cables worth crores remain unattended pending a government decision on disposal, making them easy targets. The accused allegedly worked as labourers on gas and water pipeline projects by day and stole cables at night, later burning them to extract and sell copper.
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Earlier attempt at same location
In August 2025, a similar attempt near the same court premises was foiled by the crime branch, preventing theft of wires worth ₹5 lakh. The earlier case had exposed a mastermind from Ahilyanagar and several city-based accused.