Seven hydra cranes drivers, deployed at the construction site of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSR) – popularly called the bullet train project – near Pandya bridge in Vadodara city, were arrested by the Sayajigunj police on Monday for alleged theft of 400 litre of diesel worth Rs 36,000.
The accused were deployed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which has been awarded the work order for the project. The police identified them as Tipu Khan Faruq Khan Pathan, Abhishek Shukla, Nazir Khan and Pradeep Kumar Ramprasad Belvaniya from Uttar Pradesh as well as Hare Krishna Ram Dulare Yadav from West Bengal, Mukesh Yadav from Bihar and Bhola Yadav from Vadodara.
According to the police complaint, filed by L&T executive admin Anil Singh, work on the bullet train project has been going on at the Punjab rolling mill area near Pandya bridge, where L&T has deployed hydra cranes, tyre mounted cranes and millers, among other machines.
The police have recovered diesel containers filled with about 400 litre of fuel, worth Rs 36,000.
The FIR stated, “The machines have been hired on lease but the responsibility of refuelling them with diesel lies with L&T… The seven accused, who drove the hydra cranes, complained about running out of fuel faster than expected and therefore, out of suspicion of theft, they were put under watch for over a week…”
It added that on Sunday, Tipu Pathan and Hare Krishna Yadav informed Singh that their hydra cranes were in need of service and they would take the machines to a local garage. “The two drivers took the machines to a garage near Kalyannagar and parked them in the open… A while later, they brought out containers from the garage and using a hosepipe, began pilfering diesel from the machines. As I walked up to them, they were scared… Both had stolen at least 60 litre of diesel. When I stepped into the garage, I saw several containers filled with diesel and the two said that the other drivers were also involved in the theft,” Singh said in the FIR.
The police have recovered diesel containers filled with about 400 litre of fuel, worth Rs 36,000, and booked the accused under sections 381 (theft by servant of property in the capacity of being employed) and 114 (crime committed in presence of abettor) of the Indian Penal Code.
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