It is not a miracle to find parts of bridges being stolen and it isn’t the first time a bridge has disappeared. In the Czech Republic, intrepid thieves stole a bridge in broad daylight in 2012, claiming they had been hired to dismantle it. Thieves had stolen $100,000 worth of steel from a bridge in Pennsylvania, US, the year before. A 36-foot steel bridge was taken for scrap metal in Ukraine in 2004.
A gang of thieves in Rohtas district of Bihar, have pulled off an extraordinary heist by stealing a 60-foot bridge in broad daylight. The robbers, posing as state irrigation department officials, demolished the bridge with gas cutters and earthmover machines before fleeing with the scrap metal, according to Indian news agency ANI.
Arshad Kamal Shamshi, a junior engineer of the irrigation department, said that the villagers informed them that some people pretending to be irrigation department officials had uprooted the bridge using machines like JCB and gas-cutters. Mr Shamshi added that they have filed an FIR.
According to police, the robbers enlisted the assistance of local department officials under the guise of being government officers and committed the crime in broad daylight.
Realizing they have been tricked, Shamshi further told ANI that the officers of the irrigation department filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the Nasriganj police station.
The sudden vanishing of the extremely large and high bridge has shocked everyone in the area.Â
The 500 tonne old, dilapidated bridge was built on the Ara Canal in 1972. The robbers pretended to be Irrigation Department employees and enlisted the assistance of local department personnel.
According to an official, the robbers arrived fully prepared, acting as officers from the Irrigation Department. This iron bridge, which had been abandoned for decades, was rarely used.
The villagers had also applied for the removal of this bridge.
The locals and the police department realized they had been fooled when the iron bridge, which was roughly 60 feet long and 12 feet high, was stolen. The departmental officers then filed a report with the police station.
 A junior engineer named Arshad Kamal Shamsi and the Irrigation Department, claimed that a complaint had been filed with respect to this case.
“The bridge was too old and declared dangerous some time back. A new concrete bridge was constructed adjacent to the old one, and that is currently used by the locals,” said Mantu Singh, a resident of the Amiyawar village.
Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav slammed the government over the event, saying the robbers were inspired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP politicians.
“What is a bridge if the BJP and Nitish Kumar can steal the government of Bihar?” he added. In 2017, Kumar’s JD(U) severed ties with the RJD in order to form a partnership with the BJP in the state.
Published By :- Shubham Agarwal
