From Patna
When we talk of a heist, we usually refer it to as, let’s say, a diamond heist and the like. There was this 2001 film called Heist that became the highest-grossing film directed by Mamet in the United States and went on to become a popular hit in the home video market.
Bihar may have just redefined the word ‘heist’ with an outlandish incident that has been hitting headlines and raising the curiosity of people forcing one to retort: “Is it possible?”
Well, this bizarre incident has indeed happened – no less than a 60-foot steel bridge was stolen in Bihar’s Rohtas district this Friday (8 April 2022). The thieves who went on to dismantle the unused steel frame posed as Irrigation Department officials as they committed the heist. In a sophisticated modus operandi, they used gas cutters and earthmover machines to demolish the bridge and escaped with the scrap metal, according to reports.
The culprits executed their plan with such precision even the local irrigation department employees reportedly “cooperated” with them.
Arshad Kamal Shamshi, a junior engineer of the Irrigation department, said the villagers informed them that some people posing as Irrigation department officials had uprooted the bridge using machines like JCB and gas-cutters.
An FIR has been lodged at Nasriganj police station in this connection.
The abandoned bridge, weighing some 500 tonnes, was built over the Arrah canal in Amiyawar village in Nasriganj police station area in 1972.
Theft of iron pieces removed from bridges is not very uncommon. But this time the thieves took away an entire bridge with themselves in a three-day operation.
Villagers told police that the thieves availed themselves of the services of some 20 laborers in the heist. They coolly loaded iron scraps in five trucks and left unchallenged.
By the time the locals realised what had happened and informed the police, they had fled with the scrap, said Subhash Kumar, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Nasriganj police station.
The bridge was too old and declared dangerous some time back. A new concrete bridge was constructed adjacent to the old one, and that is currently being used by the locals.
Meanwhile, scrap dealers in the district have been alerted.
The main/featured picture on top from Pixabay has been used for illustrative purpose only. This is not the actual image of the bridge that was stolen in Bihar
Also read by the same author: Bihar may witness a surge of Hindutva politics as BJP’s poll juggernaut rolls on – THE NEWS PORTER
