Vadodara: Detection of crime branch (DCB) busted a racket involving the theft of underground copper cables and arrested a man for it on Monday. Police said the gang dug up paver blocks on a road in Dandia Bazaar and stole cables laid by the BSNL worth Rs 1.3 lakh on June 25.A case was registered at Raopura police station after which police scanned CCTV footage. Investigators said that they got a tip-off that a scrap dealer in the Ranoli-GIDC had bought the stolen cables. A police team then picked up Sonu Gupta and questioned him. He allegedly admitted having bought the stolen cables.He told police that 10 men came to meet him in a car bearing an Andhra Pradesh numberplate. One of them told Gupta that they got the cables — weighing 158 kilograms — while doing some digging work in Rajkot and Ahmedabad and wanted to sell it. Gupta paid them by UPI and also gave them some cash.Gupta told police he melted the cables down. Police have seized the copper stock worth Rs 1.51 lakh from him. Gupta (30) has several offences registered against him, including theft, at Chhani, Nandesari, Manjusar, Gorwa and Jawaharnagar police stations.
