PONDA: Four persons were caught red handed while, reportedly, attempting to commit theft at Sanjeevani Sugar Factory at 10.30 pm on Saturday night. The culprits were caught by the factory workers; they were later arrested by the Ponda police.
Police suspect that the same gang was involved in the theft of motors, rotors and other spare parts from the factory on July 22, July 30 and August 2. The value of stolen property is estimated at around Rs 4.5 lakh. Police also suspect that the culprits had an insider helping them.
The arrested accused are identified as Rajesh Sunderlal Gupta (40), a resident of Bethora but a native of UP; Krishna Parshuram Ingale (35), a resident of Upper Bazaar in Ponda; Sunil Bhimrao Gana Chari (30), a resident of Upper Bazaar and Suresh Yadav (42), a resident of Dattagarh in Ponda.
Police have seized the tools used in the theft attempt and also a Balleno car used by them for travelling to the factory.
Narrating the incident, a worker said that following repeated thefts at the factory, they have been guarding the factory with the permission of the officials. And on Saturday night, when eleven of the were guarding the premises, the four culprits came in a Balleno at around 10.30 pm, stopped the car near the Gymkhana Hall of the factory and started removing some tools from the vehicle to commit theft in the factory.
Finding the presence of the culprits at the factory premises suspicious, the workers rushed in and caught them. They were later handed over to the police. It is learnt that the arrested accused had sold the stolen material to a scrap yard at Margao.
