Bhubaneswar, The Indonesia Post – Police in India are trying to arrest the gang who dismantled the 60-foot metal bridge and possibly sold it after it was stripped down as scrap metal, officials said Sunday.
The bridge hijackers, disguised as irrigation department officials in eastern Bihar state, used gas cutters and earth-moving machines to break down an abandoned bridge in Amiyawar village, about 150 kilometers south of Patna, the state capital.
Selling scrap metal can be a lucrative business in India, where theft of metal parts of public property is common. The metal is then sold at a junkyard for a quick buck.
A police officer said residents of Amiyawar thought government officials had decided to dismantle the old bridge, which was built over the aqueduct some three decades ago, because it was no longer in use.
Villagers had previously applied to the irrigation department to dismantle the bridge, a resident said.
“People came with heavy equipment, gas cutters and worked two days during the day to dismantle the bridge,” said Gandhi Chaudhary, 29, a villager.
Local residents asked working officers about their identities and were told they had been hired by the irrigation department to dismantle the bridge.
Earlier this week the scrap metal was loaded into the vehicle and the bin was emptied.
“We have identified several members of the gang and some have not been traced. They destroyed public property and stole a bridge,” said Subash Kumar, a police officer investigating the case. (mhn/bbs)
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