Close on the heels of arrest of a scrap-depote owner with stolen copper materials, railway police on Sunday arrested three more people for being involved in the theft of copper cables and batteries from the Tatanagar railway station.

Those arrested on Sunday had stolen copper cables and four batteries from a stationary relief train at the Tatanagar railway yard. While two of those arrested include thieves, the third one identified as Suresh Poddar (56) is a scrap-depote owner having his depot at Jugsalai. Revealing about the breakthrough, inspector, Railway Protection Force, Tatanagar, Sanjay Kumar Tiwari said that during vigilance at the railway yard two youths were nabbed while loitering suspiciously there in the small hours on Sunday.

"On being interrogated, the duo identified as Krishna Patel (18) and Mohammad Manjur (22) confessed that they were in the railway yard to steal valuables from any stationary train. But on being interrogated intensely, they divulged that they had decamped with copper cables and four batteries from a relief train two months ago," said Tiwari while talking to The Telegraph Online.

The inspector said on being interrogated further, the arrested duo led a team of RPG personnel to a scrap-depote in adjoining Jugsalai market. He pointed out they found the stolen railway properties at the scrap-depote and immediately nabbed the depot owner while seizing the stolen goods.

Tiwari said after revelation made by the thieves, they made the railway officials concerned to check the relief train, but it was lying found defunct.

Earlier on Wednesday, the railway police had arrested a 40-year-old scrap-depote owner, Manoj Jaiswal, for buying copper cables stolen from the stationary AC coaches at the Tatanagar washing line.