GHAZIABAD: Ten members of a gang , which had stolen more than 300 transformers in the past three years, were arrested in the city on Sunday. The accused included two scrap dealers.Police have recovered transformers and their spare parts made of copper and aluminium, LT & HT cables worth over Rs 10 lakh, besides country-made pistols, live cartridges and a few vehicles from them. The accused have more than 24 cases registered against them in Ghaziabad , Noida and the adjoining districts. Their accomplices are still absconding.The accused have been identified as Aamir, Ashraf, Suwalin, Aadil, Farman, Parvez, Kurban and Danish, all residents of Bulandshahr, Akil, a resident of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ikram, a resident of Hapur. The three accomplices who are on the run are Shahzad, a resident of Hapur, Yunus, a scrap dealer and a resident of Ghaziabad, and Nazakat, a resident of Gautam Budh Nagar.SP (rural) Arvind Kumar Maurya said the accused had a long criminal history and was involved in such thefts for the past several years and the police department was mulling imposing the National Security Act on them.He added that the gang targeted areas on the outskirts of the main city to avoid detection by residents and police.“They would gather at a place and using cutters, would disrupt the power supply and defuse the transformer and then remove it from its place. Before fleeing the spot, they would empty the transformer oil at the spot to lessen the weight of the machine. Copper and aluminium parts inside the transformers fetch a good price in the black market,” the SP added.The police said the gang leader was Kurban, who was not only involved in stealing the transformers but also ran a scrap shop. Besides him, Aamir was another scrap dealer who would strike deals on stolen goods and distribute money among the members.An FIR under Section 401 (punishment for belonging to a gang of thieves.) of IPC and under the Arms Act has been registered against 13 accused at Masuri police station.As many as six FIRs for transfomer thefts were registered at Masuri police station in the past one month.

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