Ahmedabad: As cricket fans cheered the IPL thriller in the city, a gang of thieves quietly dismantled 700 metres of cable from a metro corridor near Koba Circle. Police later discovered this was not their first hit.

A surveillance-led crackdown revealed the group's involvement in over 35 such thefts, with operations stretching across cities. The arrest of four men uncovered a vast network of interlinked crimes.Their latest heist, carried out on the night of June 2, saw the gang strike near the Old Koba Metro Station, causing damage worth Rs 17.85 lakh. This was the third metro cable theft in the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar corridor in just two weeks.Using CCTV footage from the Netram Project and technical surveillance, investigators from the Gandhinagar local crime branch identified two suspicious vehicles involved in the crime. Subsequent questioning of the vehicle owners and suspects, combined with information obtained from technical surveillance, led the cops to Kalol, where the suspects had rented a property to hide and process stolen goods.The police conducted a raid, only to catch the gang members in the act of stripping the stolen cables for copper wires.

They seized a significant amount of stolen property, including 368.8kg of copper wires valued at Rs 2.95 lakh and 130.2kg of plastic. Police also seized a car and mobile phones, bringing the total value of recovered property to Rs 8.32 lakh.Further interrogation and technical analysis revealed the involvement of 13 individuals in the metro cable theft scheme.. The gang members admitted to multiple thefts at different locations, including near the Shahpur Metro Station in Ahmedabad and the Gyaspur Metro Station in Vejalpur, Ahmedabad.Those arrested include Musharraf Mulejat, 32, Rashid Dhobi,21, Rashid Ansari, 45, and Irshad Malik, 33, all residents of Bagpat in Uttar Pradesh. The absconding gang members are Shehzad Amruddin Malik, Aamir Akbar Malik, Arif Babu Malik, Ikhlakh Iqbal Malik, Imran Malik, Arif Rafiq, Sonu Babu Kasar, Arshad Asgar Malik, Bilal Qureshi, Raja Qureshi, and Masoom Yasin Malik.This relentless gang employed sophisticated tactics in each operation, including reconnaissance of metro routes, climbing metro pillars to cut cables, and transporting stolen goods for sale in different cities.Modus OperandiThe gang executed their operations by targeting cities with functioning metro networks. Upon arrival, they would check into hotels located near railway stations and rent large self-drive four-wheel vehicles, often using platforms like Just Dial. After obtaining a vehicle, they contacted local brokers to arrange rental accommodations that served as storage and processing spaces for the stolen materials.Prior to committing the thefts, the gang conducted thorough reconnaissance of metro routes using their rented cars. To access the overhead cables, they employed techniques such as using ropes and the support of large trees situated near metro bridge pillars, or by climbing adjacent walls close to the pillars. Equipped with large cutters, they would then sever the metro cables.After the theft, the stolen cables were transported to the rented property. There, the gang meticulously stripped off the plastic and rubber coverings to isolate the copper wiring. The extracted copper wires were then bundled, packed, and transported by train from Kalupur Railway Station in Ahmedabad to Delhi, where they were sold.