Pune, Sep 8: Pune Crime Branch has busted an inter-state gang involved in stealing transformers and copper wires from them in and around the city, arresting three accused and recovering stolen property worth Rs 12.73 lakh, officials said on Tuesday.

According to police, the Unit 7 team was conducting patrols when Constable Vinayak Salve received confidential information that some people involved in transformer thefts would arrive in the Wadegaon area of Haveli taluka.

Acting on the information, Police Inspector Wahid Pathan directed PSI Rahul Kolpe to verify the information and initiate legal action. A trap was subsequently laid at Wadegaon, where police intercepted a goods tempo bearing registration number MH-12-GT-6675 on Sunday.

Three men travelling in the vehicle were detained and questioned. They were identified as Mohammed Sahebjaan Mangrekhan, 30, Adarsh Chandraprakash Pandey, 22, and Chandrasen Shivratan Dharia, 28. Police said all three are originally from Uttar Pradesh and were residing in Pune district.

During questioning, the accused confessed to stealing copper wires from eight transformers over the past five to six months. The thefts reportedly took place in Wadegaon, Ashtapur, Sangvi Sandas, Nhavi Sandas, and Hingangaon areas under the jurisdiction of Lonikand Police Station.

Police said the arrests helped solve eight cases registered at Lonikand Police Station under Section 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 136 of the Indian Electricity Act.

The three accused were arrested, and further investigation is underway to determine whether other people were involved in the gang and identify where the stolen copper material was being sold.

Earlier, on May 27, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police had arrested three members of a gang involved in 48 cases of electricity transformer theft across Pune district.

Chakan North police had cracked the case while investigating the theft of copper wires from a transformer installed at Nexus Healthcare in Biradwadi village, Khed taluka. The theft reportedly took place between May 15 and 16.

Guwahati, Sep 7: A nine-member team of Assam Chief Minister’s Vigilance Cell on Monday conducted a search at the official residence of Dhemaji District Development Commissioner (DDC) and senior Assam Civil Service (ACS) officer, Debeswar Bora, in connection with an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities and suspected possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The vigilance team arrived in Dhemaji from Guwahati in two vehicles and carried out the search at Bora’s government accommodation.

The officer was also questioned by the investigators during the operation.

Officials have so far not disclosed details of the case or specified the documents, assets or other materials examined during the search.

According to preliminary information, the Vigilance Cell initiated the case following a complaint filed by a doctor.

The allegations reportedly relate to Bora’s tenure as Joint Secretary in the Medical Education and Research Department under the state Health Department.

The complaint is understood to have led to a preliminary enquiry into alleged irregularities during his earlier posting.

During the course of the enquiry, certain properties and assets allegedly linked to the senior officer came under the scrutiny of the Vigilance Cell.

Sources said properties located in Guwahati and Lakhimpur are among those being examined as part of the probe.

Investigators are also reportedly looking into the ownership of some of the properties, which are allegedly registered in the names of Bora’s wife and other family members.

The probe is expected to examine the sources of funds used for acquiring the properties and whether they correspond with the known income of the officer and his family.

The search at the DDC’s official residence is part of the ongoing investigation and is expected to help the Vigilance Cell gather documents and other material relevant to the allegations.

The Vigilance Cell has not yet issued an official statement on the case or disclosed the findings of Monday’s search. Further details are awaited as the investigation progresses. The allegations remain subject to verification and due legal process.

Jammu, Sep 7: A drugs case accused has managed to escape from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) headquarters here, and police formed a team to nab the fugitive, officials said on Monday.

Officials said the accused, Aqib Bashir of Kakapora town in Pulwama district, escaped from NCB custody on Sunday night.

“He (Bashir) was arrested with 522g heroin in Samba. He is linked to a narco module,” an official said, adding that the NCB Jammu Zonal Unit has intensified its crackdown on heroin trafficking into Jammu & Kashmir, with recent operations indicating two distinct supply routes — heroin entering directly from Pakistan through the Uri sector and heroin being routed indirectly through Punjab into J&K.

In the latest operation on last Thursday, NCB Jammu intercepted a passenger bus near New Bus Stand, Samba and recovered 522 grams of heroin from Bashir.

“Investigation swiftly traced the backward linkage to Punjab. Acting on the lead, NCB mounted a separate operation at Ludhiana, resulting in a further seizure of 197 grams of heroin. The linked Samba–Ludhiana operation has thus resulted in the recovery of 719 grams of heroin, while further investigation into the network is continuing,” the official said.

Officials said this seizure was the fourth heroin interception by NCB in the Jammu Division within about a month, forming part of a sustained intelligence-led offensive against the supply and distribution of heroin in the region.

“The recent operations include seizures of 438 grams and 603 grams of heroin in two operations conducted inside drug-affected bastis in Jammu/Samba, taking enforcement action directly into vulnerable pockets being used for drug trafficking,” an official said.

In another major operation, NCB has earlier seized 5.160 kg of heroin at Jammu. Investigation in that case indicated that the consignment had originated from Pakistan and entered J&K through the Uri sector.

The trail was pursued beyond the point of seizure up to Leh, where the alleged supplier was apprehended. The latest Samba case has now exposed the other supply channel, with the backward linkage leading to Ludhiana.

The operations indicate that heroin is being pushed into the region through multiple routes — directly across the Pakistan border as well as indirectly through the Punjab–J&K corridor.

The NCB’s strategy is therefore focused not merely on seizures at the point of interception, but on following every consignment both backwards to its source and forwards to its intended recipients, with the objective of dismantling the entire trafficking chain.

Further investigation into the suppliers, receivers, financial trail, and other members of these networks is underway.