Inputs by Shuchi Giridhar
A bridge was built over a nullah last year in the month of June. It was a makeshift solution to carry heavy electric cables over the nullah for Adani Electricity. It was later replaced with a permanent bridge. So, the old bridge was lifted using cranes and placed at the end of Malad Back Road to be carted away. The bridge weighed 6000 kilos, was 90 feet long, and, according to the police report filed by the company (Adani Electricity), was worth 2 lakh rupees.
However, four thieves had a different idea. One of them was from the company originally contracted to build the said bridge.
One fine night (June 11th), they carried gas cutters to the bridge, dismantled it, and, quite simply, carted it away.
The company realised on June 26th that the bridge was gone. An FIR was lodged on the same day.
Since there were no CCTV cameras monitoring the area, the police relied on cameras near the location.
They found a heavy truck carrying gas cutters going towards the location on the night of June 11th. They tracked down the vehicle and reached the four thieves.
Not the first time
In April 2022, eight people were arrested for similarly stealing a 60-feet-long iron bridge at Sasaram in Bihar. In this case, they came in broad daylight and used gas cutters to dismantle the bridge in broad daylight for over a week. Everyone assumed they were government officials dismantling an old, unused bridge.
In November 2021, a 58-foot bridge was stolen in Akron, Ohio(USA). The officials were surprised because the bridge, though not in use, was made of polymer material which has no scrap value.
In May 2019, a 75-feet-long, 62-tonne structure was stolen over a few days. The location was just outside the abandoned settlement of Oktyabrskaya (Russia). The theft was reported in June.
Most of these bridges are stolen for the value of iron.