New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) Three men were arrested in southeast Delhi's Sarita Vihar area for allegedly stealing MTNL underground copper cables, police said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Naim (28), a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Noor Salam (23) and Sahid (31), both residents of Bihar, they said.

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On Thursday, police were deployed for patrolling at Madanpur Khadar. Around 10 pm, they received information regarding a vehicle having stolen telephone cables in it, a senior police officer said.

"Thereafter, a trap was laid. A vehicle was seen coming in the area and it was signalled to stop. The driver of the van stopped it and tried to flee with his other two associates, but they were apprehended," Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) R P Meena said.

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On sustained interrogation, they stated that the van contains stolen telephone cable, the DCP said.

Later, it was found that an FIR was registered on Thursday regarding theft of MTNL underground cable from Sarita Vihar area, police said.

The accused said they stole the cables from Sarita Vihar area. They cut the cables in small pieces and loaded them in the van, they said.

Two persons, Ishtkar and Tanveer, both residents of New Usmanpur, who works as a ragpicker in Pilanji, also helped them, police said, adding that efforts are being made to arrest them.

Copper cable wire having cost around Rs 7 lakh and one van were recovered from their possession, they added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)