3 held for ‘stealing’ cell tower battery

Three people were arrested on charge of stealing a mobile phone tower battery in Brahmanbaria’s Akhaura upazila on Sunday night.

Police also seized a pickup van and some tools from their possession.

The arrestees are Rubel Mia, 28, Mobarak Mia, 22, and Saddam Hossain, 30, of Kishoreganj.

They are all the employees of a third-party mobile tower maintenance company named Metal Plus, said Tarek Hossain, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Dharkhar Police Outpost.

Monirul Islam Bhuiyan, security guard of Grameenphone tower at Ranikhar village, caught the trio red-handed, said the ASI.

The three entered the control room of the mobile phone tower around 9:45pm and tried to confine Monirul to a room when he resisted.

Hearing screams, villagers rushed to the spot and caught the alleged thieves. On information, police went to the spot and detained the three.

The law enforcers also recovered the battery from their possession, said the police official.

Earlier in April this year, a battery of the tower was stolen, said the security guard.

On information, Shahidul Islam, in-charge of Metal Plus, visited the spot.

Tahmid Hossain, regional manager (Kishoreganj-Brahmanbaria) of Grameenphone, said legal action will be taken in this regard.