Five men were arrested for stealing vehicle batteries across both city and rural areas of the district, police said on Tuesday, recovering a total of 46 stolen batteries.
The accused, aged between 19 and 40, were part of an organized gang involved in at least seven recent battery thefts reported at various police stations across the district.
The men were identified as Dhiraj Kumar Verma (21), Pratham Kumar (19), Roshan Kumar (20), Piyush Kumar (19), and Mahesh Kumar Mahto (40). Mahesh, a resident of Jainamoad, was reportedly the mastermind. He ran a battery shop and bought the stolen batteries from his gang members. All the accused are residents under the jurisdiction of Balidih, City, and Sector-12 police stations.
“Separate cases of battery theft were registered at Balidih, Sector-12, City, and Pindrajora police stations. Acting on intelligence, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by DSP (Headquarters) carried out raids that led to the gang’s arrest. The prime accused, Dhiraj, has a prior criminal record for theft. During interrogation, the gang admitted targeting e-rickshaw batteries due to their high resale value in the grey market,” said SP Bokaro, Harvinder Singh.
