Pune Police Seize Rs 80.70 Lakh Worth Stolen BSNL Copper Cables, Vehicles

Wanowrie, 11th May 2026: The Wanowrie Police busted a major interstate copper cable theft racket operating in the Hadapsar Industrial Estate area of Pune. The accused were allegedly stealing valuable underground BSNL copper cables by opening drainage line covers and pulling out the cables using a crane.

Police arrested nine accused red-handed after a cinematic chase and seized stolen material and vehicles collectively worth Rs 80.70 lakh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Aslam Sagir Khan (39, Tilaknagar, Delhi), Arif Kundukhan Khan (40, Uttar Pradesh), Shoaib Haroon Khan (25, Uttar Pradesh), Salman Idris Malik (33, Delhi), Naresh Kumar Shrishivcharan (43, Haryana), Navi Mohammad Shan Mohammad (35, Uttar Pradesh), Anis Ansari Mohammad Giasuddin (22, Hadapsar, Pune), Afaq Ansari Rafiq Ansari (22, Hadapsar, Pune), and Pravin Dadasaheb Bagul (33, Hadapsar, Pune).

According to police, a combing and round-up operation was being conducted in the jurisdiction of Wanowrie Police Station between 11 pm on May 8 and 3 am on May 9 as per instructions from the Crime Branch.

During the patrol, Police Sub-Inspector Alfaz Shaikh and his team received a tip-off from an informer that some suspects were removing copper cables from underground drainage pipelines near Ashray Tea Hotel opposite Honeywell Company using a crane.

Acting on the information, PSI Alfaz Shaikh, PSI Shashikant Londhe and their team rushed to the spot and laid a trap. On noticing the police, the accused attempted to flee. However, the police chased and nabbed them on the spot.

During the operation, police seized copper cables worth Rs 34.80 lakh, along with the crane used for the theft, an Eicher truck, a moped, and other equipment, taking the total value of the seized property to Rs 80.70 lakh.

Investigation revealed that the gang included accused from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Pune.

During further interrogation, police found the involvement of five more accused identified as Sartaj Hussain (Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh), Aman (Gonda, Bihar), Toufeeq (Badaun, Uttar Pradesh), Ali Mohammad alias Lallan (Khyala, Delhi), and Anil Dede (Ramtekdi, Hadapsar, Pune).

A case has been registered against all the accused at Wanowrie Police Station under Sections 303(2), 60, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Further investigation is being carried out by PSI Alfaz Shaikh.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that arrested accused Pravin Bagul is the Pune city president of the Slum Security Committee of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Police sources said absconding accused Anil Dede also has links with the organisation, raising the possibility of political controversy in the case.

Police have formed special teams to trace and arrest the five absconding accused.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajlaxmi Shivanakar, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Namrata Desai.

The action was executed by Senior Police Inspector Bhausaheb Patil, Police Inspector (Crime) Sangeeta Jadhav, Assistant Police Inspector Umakant Mahadik, Police Sub-Inspector Alfaz Shaikh, Police Sub-Inspector Shashikant Londhe, and police personnel Amol Pilane, Mahesh Gadhave, Daya Shegar, Gopal Madne, Arshad Sayyed, Abhijit Chavan, Amol Gaikwad, Vitthal Chormale, Ashish Kamble, Vishnu Sutar, Balaji Waghmare, Ganesh Bhujbal, Vaibhav Nikam, along with Hadapsar Police Station personnel Bapu Lonkar and Mahavir Londhe.