NEW DELHI: Five people were arrested for stealing underground copper cables in South Delhi for impersonating contractors of a telecom company. Around 1,400 kg of underground copper wire, a truck and a JCB machine were recovered from their possession, a police official said.
The accused have been identified as Sameer, Amit, Shakeel, and Amzad, all residents of Ghaziabad, UP, and Arif, a resident of Najafgarh, he added.
A team led by inspector Vijay Pal Dahiya analysed past incidents and identified a recurring pattern—most thefts were carried out during early morning hours using heavy machinery such as trucks and JCBs.
On the morning of July 28, the team were on routine patrol in the CR Park area when they observed a group of people engaged in unauthorised digging. Although several suspects fled the scene, Amit and Sameer were apprehended.
Initially, they posed as MTNL contractors to mislead the police initially, but they confessed to attempting copper wire theft, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam said. An MTNL official confirmed that no authorised work was being carried out. On Saturday, three more people —Arif, who was a receiver of stolen copper wire, and Shakeel and Amzad— were arrested, the official added.