Mumbai: In a worrying trend across Mumbai, organized gangs have been deploying sophisticated methods to steal underground copper cables belonging to Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), causing losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
Abandoned 1970s-80s Cables with Low Surveillance Become Easy Targets
Copper, often referred to as, underground gold, commands high demand in the scrap market, fetching between Rs800 and Rs900 per kilogram. This lucrative pricing has fueled a thriving black-market network involving scrap dealers and illegal buyers. Stolen cables are typically cut into smaller pieces, then burned or stripped to extract copper and sold for profit, sources said.
Authorities report that several stretches of old MTNL copper infrastructure laid during the 1970s and 1980s remain abandoned beneath city roads. With reduced surveillance, lack of CCTV monitoring, and delayed complaint mechanisms, these areas have become easy targets for criminals. Investigations suggest that nearly 15 to 20 organized gangs are currently active in the city.
These gangs often disguise themselves as authorized contractors or MTNL workers, wearing reflective safety jackets and using heavy machinery such as JCBs and Poklen excavators. Under the cover of darkness, they dig up roads and extract hundreds of meters of cable, often worth crores.
Contractors Booked in Dindoshi Case
In a recent incident reported on April 7 at around 3:00 a.m., a case of cable theft was registered by the Dindoshi police station. Shockingly, the theft occurred during an ongoing road excavation project sanctioned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Police have booked seven individuals, including contract coordinator Chetan Bishnoi and supervisor Pravin Suresh Chougule, 45, along with Vijay Dolare, 30, Deepak Chauhan, 27, Ramesh Saroj, 43, Alamgir Ali, 33, and Asamuddin Khan, 40.
According to the FIR, the incident occurred near a BMC garden gate in Upper Govind Nagar, Malad East. The accused used a Tata Hitachi Poklen machine (EX70) to dig out MTNL copper cables. Acting on a tip-off, police reached the spot and caught the accused red-handed with approximately 50 meters of cable, 40 meters of 0.4 mm PIJF and 10 meters of 0.5 mm PIJF, valued at around Rs2.5 lakh.
MTNL official Sumeru Kuril, an office work assistant at the Goregaon Telephone Exchange, alerted Deputy Manager Ajay Prakash Dravid, 54, who rushed to the scene with his team. During interrogation, supervisor Chougule confessed to conspiring with contract coordinator Bishnoi to execute the theft.
The stolen cables were allegedly intended to be hidden beneath the Aarey Bridge outpost before being sold, but the plan was foiled due to timely police intervention.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, and further investigation is underway.
Interstate Gang Busted in Mulund
In a separate crackdown, the Mulund police arrested nine members of an interstate gang on the night of March 16. The accused had arrived from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi specifically to carry out MTNL cable thefts in Mumbai.
The gang had brought along an Eicher vehicle and a Hydra crane to execute the operation. Police seized equipment and stolen material worth Rs12.22 lakh. Officials suspect the involvement of local accomplices and are expanding the investigation.
With outdated telecom infrastructure lying unused and inadequate surveillance mechanisms in place, Mumbai continues to face a growing challenge in curbing such organized thefts. Authorities now face the challenge of strengthening monitoring systems and dismantling the illegal scrap network fueling these crimes.
