Beed, March 30 A man and a teenage boy died after the power transmission tower they climbed onto to allegedly steal high-voltage cables collapsed in Beed district, Maharashtra, a police official said on Monday.
The incident occurred around 2:30 am on Sunday near Nandurghat in the Kaij tehsil, which borders the Dharashiv district, the official said.
"Avinash Batole (17) and Akash Shriram Ade, both from Medankarwadi near Chakan in Pune district, had arrived at the site with four accomplices in a car owned by Suraj Giram. The two climbed the tower, while the accomplices cut the heavy cables from one side, which caused the tower to become unstable and collapse," the official said.
"Batole and Ade were killed. Their associates tried to pass off the incident as a road accident. They loaded the bodies into their car and fled to the Parbhani district. They then abandoned the vehicle, while Giram moved the two bodies to a nearby hospital in an ambulance," the official added.
However, the plan was foiled when some relatives of Batole and Ade arrived at the hospital, raised suspicions about the deaths, and caused a commotion, which resulted in a team led by Kaij assistant police inspector Mahesh Kshirsagar reaching the scene, the official said.
Further investigation led the police to the site of the tower collapse, which had bloodstains, footwear, water bottles, etc. scattered around, revealing the chain of events that led to the deaths of Batole and Ade, he said.
"Our investigation revealed that the theft was masterminded by Vaibhav Adak, a resident of Chakan in Pune. We have so far arrested Giram, as well as Ashok Gaikwad and Vaijnath Kadam from Majalgaon in the case. Those who are still at large are Adak, Akash Pethe, and Deepak Bhagat. A team led by Kaij inspector Swapnil Unawane is continuing the investigation," the official informed.