Three held by RFP in Panvel station signal box cable theft; committed crime to buy alcohol, says police

The Panvel RFP Wednesday arrested three persons in connection with the cable theft from the signal box in Panvel on April 13 which led to the disruption of local train services severely.

Police said that two more accused are involved in the theft while an investigation is underway. According to police, four of the accused committed the theft, while one person was a scrape dealer who bought the cable. Police said that the arrested accused committed the crime to meet their alcohol needs.

According to police, on the night of April 12-13, at around 12.20 am, some miscreants broke open the signal box and pulled 20 signal cables that disturbed the working of at least 12 signal poles in and around Panvel railway station.

This led to massive disruption in the signalling system of the trains and led to the cancellation of 40 train services while 82 train services were delayed throughout the day.

Police said that the theft was noticed near pole number 48 from a signalling box on the early morning of April 13. Of the total five suspects, three have been arrested and an investigation on the remaining two is underway, they said.

The five accused have been identified as Akash Koli, Rais Saiyad, Sunil Longre, Anil Longre, and Saied Abdul Salam. Koli is the main accused and he was earlier booked in a similar case of theft at Panvel GRP.

"They are addicted to alcohol and committed the crime to buy liquor," said an official from Panvel RPF.