AGRA: This was their first theft and they wanted it to be real big. So, three daily wage labourers from Kasganj district decided on an earthmover. A JCB backhoe loader which comes for Rs 30 lakh and weighs 7,450 kg felt most suitable. Rahul Singh, 23, a native of Amapur in Kasganj , who earlier worked as the driver of the earthmover for a contractor in Ghaziabad, made the plan with his friends, Vipin Singh, 24 and Anekpal Singh, 25.Known to be a guzzler, the vehicle was hard to run on the road. It could attain a maximum speed of a little over 30kmph and its fuel tank of 128litre capacity emptied in no time. The three drove it nonstop for two days and over 200km all the way to their native place in Kasganj.Not before they had to borrow money from wherever they could to feed gallons of fuel to their “dream-cummean machine” in literal oxymoron. Besides, it was painfully slow trip. Now, they needed to earn money from the machine, more so since their creditors were after their life. They started by visiting construction sites in the vicinity to lend the vehicle’s services for a fee but the local contractors gave them no more than a pittance.Police told TOI, “We were tipped off about three men who were ready to sell a topmodel earthmover for just Rs 7 lakh. This was rather odd and triggered a curiosity.Therefore, we detained the trio and questioned them.” “We cross-checked with Indirapuram police of Ghaziabad and found that an FIR of a stolen earthmover was lodged against unknown persons.,” the officer added. They were booked under IPC’s sections 379 (theft) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and sent to jail.

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