Two employees were arrested for stealing 42 copper sheets, each one foot long from the National Modern Gallery of Art opposite the India Gate at Tilak Marg on Monday night. The accused have been identified as Dheeraj Kumar and Ankush Pratap, the employees at the gallery and are natives of Etawah and Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh respectively.
On spotting two persons on bike around 9.30 pm, who were about to leave the entrance gate with two big black bags guard Shiv Mangal Singh asked the accused to stop. He said, “when I checked their bags I found 42 copper sheets and a cutting machine, a screw driver, a hammer and a wire tape. When I asked them about the material, they admitted to have stolen them from inside the art gallery." Fifteen more broken pieces of copper sheets were found in the gallery.
Immediately Shiv Mangal called the security supervisor of the gallery SP Dutta and in turn police was called.
An FIR was registered under section 380 (punishment for theft), 411 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian penal Code at the Tilak Marg police station.
"When we interrogated the accused they said they were stealing the copper sheets to sell them at a high price in the market and make more money," said a senior police official.