Pune: The Pune rural police arrested four men, a part of a gang, on Tuesday for stealing as many as 20 water pumps used for watering farms in the Daund taluka. The police recovered the stolen pumps and the vehicle used for transporting the booty.The suspects were identified as Mohammed Chaudhari (23), Maruf Ahmed (29), Tausif Khan (25) and Rustam Khan (30) -- all presently residing in Khed. They are originally from Uttar Pradesh.A team of Yavat police led by inspector Suraj Bandgar made the arrests after they received a tip-off about the gang residing in Khed taluka.Sayaji Narayan Takwane of Pargaon village in Daund Taluka lodged a complaint with the Yavat police. Takwane and 19 other farmers had put up water pumps near the farm of one Vishnu Takwane, to pump the water from the Bhima river.“On Sunday morning when the farmers did not get water for their farms, they went to check the pumps and found that they were stolen,” an officer from the Yavat police said.After receiving the complaint, the police swung into action. They got a tip-off about a gang of thieves staying in Bahul village in Khed taluka.“The police raided the village and arrested four suspects,” the officer said. “Two more of their accomplices are on the run,” the officer added.He said that the suspects during questioning revealed that they stole the pumps to sell them, but they eventually abandoned them at Pimple Jagtap village along the Shikrapur-Chakan Road. “We have recovered all the pumps from the spot,” the police officer said.The superintendent of police (Pune rural) Sandip Patil has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for the investigating team of the Yavat police.

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