Lucknow: Five members of a gang allegedly involved in electricity cable theft were arrested following an encounter in Nanpara in Bahraich district on Saturday. One of the accused sustained a bullet injury to his leg, while another managed to escape and remains at large, police said.Acting on a tip-off that the gang had gathered to dispose of stolen cables near Hada Besedi, Nanpara police and Special Operations Group (SOG) teams cordoned off the area. However, the suspects opened fire upon spotting the police. In retaliatory firing, one of the accused, identified as Qadir of Barabanki, was injured and later arrested along with four associates. Qadir, who was taken to the district hospital, is said to have several criminal cases, including murder, registered against him.The other arrested accused were identified as Krishna Kumar, Kuldeep Gupta, Harendra Gupta and Udayraj Chauhan, all residents of Sitapur district.SP Vishwajeet Srivastava said a country-made pistol, live and spent cartridges, a Maruti Eeco van, stolen electricity cables and cable-cutting tools were recovered from the arrested accused. “Efforts are underway to arrest the absconding accused,” he said.
