The police have busted a racket that has been stealing raw materials from metro rail sites in Kochi and arrested six persons in this connection.
The arrested have been identified as Mohammed Yasar, Aboobacker, Aneesh Abdul Kareem, Biju Antony, Rony K.A. and Lenish Kunjachan, all natives of Ernakulam. The gang used to steal raw materials worth several lakhs of rupees from the sites. They deployed heavy vehicles including cranes, truck and jeeps for carrying out the thefts.
The accused were produced in a court and remanded in custody.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team seized the truck while it was returning from the HMT metro yard with stolen raw materials including iron rods. During the interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to stealing raw materials from various metro rail sites in the city on earlier occasions as well.
Vast and open spaces at the metro rail sites allow easy access to raw material such as iron and copper, which are the most sought after. With the security guards deployed by the metro contractors proving ineffective, the metro rail agencies are now resting their hopes on the police.
Each time the gang strikes and runs away with the material, the contractors have to acquire fresh stocks and the work gets delayed in the process.
