H.D. Kote Police arrest two, seize lorry

H.D. Kote: H.D. Police have arrested two persons on charges of allegedly smuggling Railway lines worth crores of rupees along with other scrap materials and have seized the lorry.

The arrested are Mujahid Pasha of Mysuru and scrap dealer Chand Pasha of H.D. Kote. H.D. Kote Sub-Inspector (SI) Zameer Ahmed said that the accused have been remanded to judicial custody.

The SI said that following a tip off two days ago that Railway lines were being smuggled in a lorry, intercepted the lorry (KA-06-A-6711) near the town and on inspecting the lorry, the Police found railway lines along with other scrap materials in the lorry.

When the Police interrogated the lorry driver and the scrap dealer, they said that a person sold the Railway lines to them and gave the mobile phone number of the person who had sold the Railway lines to them. They also told the Police that they do not know him but would identify him if they see him. The lorry contained 85 Railway lines measuring from six inches to 9 ft. long and weighing about                    4,960 kg, the SI said.

The Sub-Inspector further said that to prevent elephants from crossing forest borders and entering urban places, these Railway lines were brought to install as barricades and hence, the Forest officials of Antharasanthe and Metikuppe Ranges of Nagarahole Reserve Forests were informed. The Forest officials also visited the Police Station and inspected the Railway lines, but have not given a clear picture about it nor anyone have given complaint about Railway lines being stolen.

Meanwhile, Metikuppe Wildlife Forest Officer Santosh Hugar, speaking to Star of Mysore, said that following a phone call from H.D. Kote Police, we visited the Police Station and inspected the seized Railway lines. After the completion of works in Metikuppe Wildlife Division, the remaining Railway lines were given numbers from 1 to 1,015, but there are no such numbers present on the seized Railway lines. But still, an inspection will be carried out in Metikuppe Range, he added.

Dy.SP Sundaraj supervised Sub-Inspector Zameer Ahmed and staff Ramakrishna, Gopal and Venkatesh in the operation.