Drug addicts desperate for their fix in the City railway station are indulging in theft of copper wires at the traffic signals along tracks and overhead wires in sections where electrification work is going on causing delay to the train passengers.
The plastic wires encasing the copper are burnt to melt them and the copper sold in the City market and Shivajinagar, said Railway Police Force (RPF) Senior Divisional Security Commissioner B B Mishra. Thefts are comitted by petty thieves or organised groups, usually late in the evenings.
When wires are removed, trains do not receive the green signal and they get delayed. “Telecommunication department replaces the wires and sets the signal right when they receive information about non-working signals,” said Mishra. Cases booked
At the City station, the problem often occurs on the track leading to Yeshwantpura. Again, the equipment used by operators for doubling of tracks undertaken on the stretch to Mysore and Tumkur dig up the cables and leave them exposed which makes it easier for the thieves. Cases have even been booked against these operators, he added.
The problem of copper theft is common in metro cities. On an average, two trains in Bangalore division get delayed every month due to this problem. The stealing of copper from overhead wires, which has more value in the market (one kg per Rs 50) is done by organised groups.
In two separate incidents of robbery in February this year, RPF recovered 706 metres of copper wire, worth Rs 1.6 lakh.
“The purchasers of these wires make them into ingots and sell them at a much higher price as copper has good resale value” says Mishra. An RPF official said that for now they book the thieves and retrieve the value of the goods from them or their purchasers.
However, after their release, they are back at it. Some of them do not even spare the aluminium fittings found inside the coaches. Poor staff strength
The staff position makes it impossible to spare a cop just for monitoring the signals. This can be prevented only if there is a strong pipe casing which makes it tough to remove the wires, Mishra added.
In 2007, 22 persons were arrested and 19 cases were registered against theft of copper valued at Rs 33,275.
During the last three months this year two persons have been arrested and 3 cases registered for theft of copper valued at Rs 1,850.
