New Delhi: Unidentified thieves stole two kilometers of railway track in the Samastipur district of Bihar, said officials, reported news agency IANS. The stolen track connected Lohat sugar mill with Pandaul railway station. Since the sugar mill had been closed for a number of years, there had been no movement on the route.
In connection with the matter, two employees of the Railway Protection Force have been suspended.
A team from Samastipur DRM has been put together to look into the situation.
According to sources, the theft was committed with "connivance" from RPF personnel.
The thieves took the track and sold it to scrap dealers because there was no movement on that stretch. In Bihar, railway scarp thefts are common, but this is probably the first time that 2 km of track has been taken.
The RPF has registered an FIR.
The latest incident took place just a few days after online reports of bizarre thefts in Bihar.
In Patna, it was reported that thieves posing as telecom workers stole a mobile tower that stood 29 feet tall.
The now-defunct mobile service provider AIRCEL installed it over a house in Sabzi Bagh in 2006. GTL Limited, a company that manages telecom towers, purchased it.
According to Indiatimes, company officials discovered the structure was missing during a recent inspection of mobile towers after finding it intact in August 2022.
Bihar police said in November that bandit gangs were stealing diesel and old railroad locomotives, unbolting steel bridges in the state, and doing both.
In the last week of November, TOI reported that a gang allegedly stole an entire diesel train engine that had been transported to the Garhara yard in Barauni for repairs.
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