Three women held for stealing Rs 1 lakh copper cables in Palghar

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Police have arrested three women for allegedly stealing copper cables valued at more than Rs 1 lakh from an industrial construction site in Maharashtra's Palghar district, officials said on Tuesday, reported PTI.

The incident occurred on the intervening night of June 18-19 in the Vasai area, where construction of a power house was underway.

The accused allegedly broke open the lock of a container stationed at the site and decamped with multi-strand copper cables valued at Rs 1,08,784, a police release said, reported PTI.

Based on a complaint lodged by a site representative, the Naigaon police registered a case for house-breaking and theft. The police then examined footage from nearly 120 CCTV cameras in the area, reported PTI.

Acting on the leads, they detained three women, in the age group of 21 to 32 years, from the Bhiwandi area in neighbouring Thane district.

During sustained interrogation, the three women allegedly confessed to their involvement in the crime, following which the police recovered the stolen copper wires and other material collectively valued at Rs 1,12,063 and arrested them on Sunday, the release added, reported PTI.

Thane man loses Rs 5 lakh in gas bill payment fraud

In another case, a 52-year-old man from Maharashtra's Thane district has allegedly been cheated of Rs 5.06 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as executives from a piped gas supply company, police said on Monday, reported PTI.

The victim received calls between June 19 and 21 from unidentified individuals claiming to be from the Mahanagar Gas pipeline office in connection with an outstanding bill, reported PTI.

The fraudsters sent him a malicious link via WhatsApp, instructing him to fill in his details. Upon clicking, the fraudsters gained remote access to his phone and forwarded his calls. They illegally accessed his bank customer ID and credit card credentials, siphoning off a total of Rs 5,06,256.17 across multiple transactions, a Kalwa police official said, reported PTI.

Following the victim's complaint lodged through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, the police registered a case on Saturday against unidentified persons under relevant legal provisions.

(With inputs from PTI)