Mangaluru: Five persons who have been accused of stealing electric cables stocked for drawing power cables to run electric trains, were arrested by the Bajpe police from Shantigudde here. The arrests were made on Monday September 17.

The arrested accused happen to be Arif alias Muhammed Arif (28), residing near Kalavaru in the taluk, Ramlan Iddin alias Kamal (20) from Kinnipadavu, Azharuddin alias Azhar (23) from Kalavaru Ashraya Colony, Abdul Hameed (24) from Bhatrakere in Tenka Yekkar, and Muhammed Hakim alias Akki (21), resident of Kenjaru Pejavar here.

Items worth about two lac rupees stolen by the accused and also a car used by them for the crime were seized from their possession.

After getting information that a Maruti Omni car was moving about suspiciously in Shantigudde area at around 3 am on Monday September 17, police sub-inspector and some staff went there. When the police surrounded the vehicle and questioned the inmates, they came to know about the theft. It is said that the power cables were stolen by the accused from Kenjaru Moodayi Math, which were kept there by a company executing installation of power lines for the railways. The theft had occurred at 2 am on September 11. The worth of the items stolen was mentioned by the security guard there, Lesley Veigas, as Rs 1.5 lac. On the basis of this statement, a case was filed.

The police have found that the arrested accused face several cases in different police stations in the city. Bajpe police inspector, S Parashivamurthy, sub-inspector, Shankar Nairy and others were involved in this operation executed under the guidance of deputy commissioner of police, Uma Prashanth, and assistant commissioner of police, Rahendra D S, and directions of city police commissioner, T R Suresh.