Four men cleared of stealing power cables

dubai — Four men have been cleared of a theft charge after they had been accused of stealing power cables worth more than Dh15,000.

The four Pakistani men, aged between 27 and 36, were accused in the Court of First Instance of using sharp tools to cut and steal power cables worth Dh15,148 on a bridge leading to Al Mizhar area. The cables are owned by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

A complaint was filed on August 29, 2017. An Indian electrical engineer, 33, said: “I was passing on Al Muhaisna bridge towards Al Mizhar area at 8.30pm on August 28, 2017, when I discovered the theft of cables fixed under the light posts, and which were worth more than Dh15,000. I reported the incident to the police.”

A police lieutenant told the prosecutor: “We nabbed them after our investigation showed they were involved in the cable theft.”

The four defendants were believed to have stolen the cables to sell them and split the money.

“They confessed they had gone early in the morning to the location where the RTA had installed the cables down light posts. They used scissors and other sharp tools to pull and cut the cables.

“They went later to the industrial area in Sharjah where they sold the cables for Dh4,000 to unknown Asians. They split the money equally and confessed they were involved in other thefts,” the police officer added.

A complaint letter from the RTA to the public prosecution said the stolen cables were 158m long and worth Dh15,148. But, the court cleared them of the charges for lack of evidence.

mary@khaleejtimes.com