Six arrested for stealing copper wires from Norochcholai coal plant

Six suspects who had been engaged in stealing copper wires from the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai have been arrested by Norochcholai police with a stock of copper wires valued at Rs 1.4 million.  

The suspects, between the ages 19 and 32, are residents of Mampuriya and Daluwa. Several of them are employed at the plant on casual basis while others are from the said villages in the area, police said. 

The gang had allegedly been engaged in the racket for some time. Security guards at the plant had apprehended one of the suspects on Monday night while in the process of removing copper wires from the place where they are stored in. He was handed over to the Norochcholai police. 

After interrogating the suspect, police arrested another five suspects who were allegedly part of the racket. They also recovered a lorry used to transport the copper wires and another stock of stolen wires that had been sold to a shop that purchases scrap iron. 

Police said the total value of the seized copper wires amounts to Rs.1.4 million. 

The suspects are to be produced before the Puttalam Magistrate's Court. 

Text and Pix by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe in Puttalam

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