Bengaluru: Construction sites on the city’s periphery have a new-found problem: Scrap thieves. The miscreants are not the usual fly-by-night thieves, but a well-organised gang that uses elderly men as scouts to pull off daring and early-morning heists.The operation of the gang is simple: An elderly man will casually survey sites with little or no security. Once he spots a soft target, he will tip off the gang. Hours later, usually between 2.30am and 4am, a group posing as construction workers will arrive in a goods van and load up construction material before fleeing.In fact, such thefts have been more rampant in north Bengaluru, where construction is rapid. According to police sources, over 15 such thefts have been reported in recent weeks in areas like Dasarahalli, Bagalagunte, Peenya, Soladevanahalli and Madanayakanahalli. While prices of construction materials have skyrocketed and thieves find it easy to dispose of stolen goods, for police, these crimes are still low priority and the lost goods are not of high value. Mithun, a scaffolding supplier from Peenya, recounted his loss: “I lost 240 scaffolding sheets in one night. In 10 days, my losses hit Rs 11.5 lakh. We started monitoring the site and noticed an elderly man hanging around. One night, a tempo arrived and in minutes, everything was gone. We caught the man, but he acted drunk and clueless when we handed him over to police.”Despite CCTV footage and growing complaints, little action has followed. A partial breakthrough happened Wednesday when Bagalagunte police recovered 130 stolen sheets from an interstate scrap racket in a pre-dawn raid — but no FIRs were filed and no arrests made.Contractors and site owners are now left to fend for themselves. “We’re forced to guard half-built buildings like fortresses,” said Ramamurthy, a contractor from Dasarahalli. “These gangs are fearless and getting bolder. It has become a headache to even protect half-built structures,” he added.
