SUV, spotters and WhatsApp calls fail as gang stealing copper and oil from transformers busted in Pune

“The investigation pointed to the presence of an organised gang that used vehicles. They used to cut the power supply to the transformer. They would get the heavy transformers down from the height where they were installed, pointing to the use of specialised tools. The thieves had fled with the copper core and oil from the transformers, both of which can fetch good money on scrap and black markets,” said an officer involved in the investigation.

Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill recently reviewed these cases with the LCB teams led by Inspector Avinash Shilimkar and Assistant Inspector Mahadev Shelar. Teams from the Junnar and Khed divisions were tasked with investigating these cases together.

Huge amounts of CCTV footage analysed

By sifting through huge amounts of CCTV footage on the approach routes towards these locations and cross-referencing it with cell phone usage data, LCB teams zeroed in on a group of suspects that seemed to be operating in a coordinated manner. On March 17, after receiving concrete inputs that the gang had come to the Talegaon Dhamdhere areas, the police laid a trap. The LCB teams nabbed five suspects from the Manjarwadi area near the Pune-Nashik bypass. In the subsequent investigation, the police teams seized two cars, including an SUV, along with large quantities of copper core in the form of plates and wires. The probe confirmed their involvement in 23 cases in 2025 and 2026.

The police identified the suspects as Bhaskar Ranganath Keval, 34, a resident of Pirachiwadi, Nimdari, Junnar; Krishna Baban Jadhav, 30, a resident of Kanhur Mesai, Shirur; Deepak Lahu Bhalekar, 30, a resident of Dhagadwadi, Junnar; Sukhrup Sukhdev Nangare, 29, a resident of Hivare Tarfe Narayangaon, Junnar; and Rajendra Bhalchandra Bhalekar, 33, a resident of Yenere, Junnar.

An officer said, “Our investigation revealed that these suspects used an SUV for reconnaissance and committed thefts. They used specialised tools, including chains and cutting tools, to bring down the transformer after cutting its supply and then took out the copper and oil. They kept two dedicated spotters for lookout and always communicated with each other on WhatsApp to avoid being tracked. They sold the copper core and oil at various places in Pune. We are investigating if this gang was involved in cases elsewhere.”