Gang of mobile tower battery thieves busted in Palghar; 9 held

Palghar: Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a gang stealing batteries from the server rooms of mobile phone towers with the arrest of nine persons in Maharashtra's Palghar district.

As many as 24 batteries valued at Rs 12,000 were stolen from the mobile tower server room in Bhalivali village on December 5, Virar crime unit-III senior police inspector Pramod Badakh said.

The thieves had broken the lock of the tower cabin and stolen the batteries, he said.

The Mandvi police then registered an FIR under section 303(2) (theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Following various complaints of such thefts in the region, the police intensified their probe. They worked on leads, including the CCTV footage of the locations as well as technical and intelligence inputs.

They subsequently arrested nine persons, including two scrap dealers who purchased the stolen materials, the official said.

During the interrogation of the accused, it came to light that they had committed similar thefts in Vasai, Virar, Wada, Boisar and other areas in the district, he said.

So far, six such cases registered with the Mandvi, Virar, Pelhar, Naigaon and Boisar police have been detected, the official said.