Delhi metro cable-theft racket busted; 4 held, 7 absconding: Police

PTI, Dec 11, 2024, 8:55 PM IST

Representative image (source: Pexels)

New Delhi: Police have arrested four members of a gang of 11 that was involved in cable theft in the Delhi metro, an official said on Wednesday.

According to police, they have dismantled the notorious gang that was responsible for stealing signalling cables from the Delhi metro network, specifically targeting the Blue Line, between Noida Electronic City and Dwarka.

“The gang’s operations disrupted metro services and caused considerable inconvenience to commuters,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Transport Range) Vijay Singh said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Rashid Malik (26), a repeat offender who was previously involved in three theft cases, Shahrukh Malik (29), Ramzan (32) and Junaid alias Bhura (32).

Police said the theft came to light at 5 am on December 5, when the section engineer of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) signalling department reported abnormal signalling circuit alarms in the control room.

“Upon investigation, it was discovered that a 140-metre-long signalling cable was severed between the Moti Nagar and Kirti Nagar metro stations. This critical cable transmits data to track circuits, helping monitor the locations of trains,” the JCP said.

Subsequently, a case was registered at the Raja Garden Metro police station under relevant penal provisions and the Delhi Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act.

“A team was formed under the supervision of G Ram Gopal Naik (DCP, Metro) and further investigation was taken up. The team traced the gang’s activities and launched targeted raids. These efforts led to the arrest of Shahrukh Malik and later, three of his associates were also nabbed,” the officer said, adding that they have identified the remaining seven gang members — Masoom, Faisal, Islam, Nadeem, Siddhu, Teli and Sarfaraz.

Police said the rest of the accused are absconding and raids are on to nab them.

Sharing the gang’s modus operandi, the JCP said Rashid Malik, Faisal, Masoom, and Junaid were the mastermind behind the entire operation.

He said during investigation, it was also revealed that Rashid Malik, Faisal, Masoom and Junaid had identified a metro duct on the elevated tracks between the Moti Nagar and Kirti Nagar stations.

“They typically exploited the cover of darkness to cut the cables after the DMRC services ceased for the night. The stolen cables carry no electricity and are highly valuable due to their copper content. For executing this task of climbing and cutting cables, they had hired specialist members — Islam, Nadeem, Siddhu and Teli — who used ropes and hooks to climb up the metro pillars to further cut the metro cables,” the officer said.

He added that police have found several audio clips of the accused who were planning cable thefts in different areas.

Shahrukh and Ramzan were asked to reach the location shared by Faisal. They parked a loader vehicle at a distance to avoid suspicion and once the cables were cut, they were loaded onto the vehicle, the JCP said, adding that Rashid Malik and absconding accused Faisal piloted the loader vehicle in a Honda Amaze car.

The stolen cables were weighed in the Mustafabad area, police said, adding that they have seized 55 metres of stolen cable, a Tata Ace loader vehicle and two mobile phones from the arrested accused.

The JCP said the metro unit of the Delhi Police has so far solved 22 theft cases out of 44 and arrested 53 people.

“This shows a significant jump as compared to 2023, when 12 arrests were made. The Delhi Police has already conducted a security audit of the metro stations and written to the DMRC on vulnerabilities,” the officer said.

Services on Delhi metro’s Blue Line were disrupted for around six hours on December 5 due to the theft of 140 metres of signalling cable between the Moti Nagar and Kirti Nagar stations, causing significant inconvenience to commuters.

One of the busiest metro corridors, the Blue Line connects Dwarka with Vaishali and Noida City Centre. At 8 am, the DMRC informed commuters about the incident. Normal services were resumed at 1:38 pm.