Based on a tip off, a team led by acting senior inspector Vishal Raje conducted a raid and detained four accused persons who were carrying out digging work. (Image generated using AI)The Mumbai Police Wednesday said it busted a gang that would allegedly operate at night claiming to be working on behalf of MTNL, have forged papers to show the same, come in Bolero pick up trucks and would flee with the underground network of copper wires.The four arrested accused took the wire to a forested area in Navi Mumbai where it was burnt and the copper sold to big scrap dealers in Delhi for a handsome sum.Police suspects that someone from within Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) tips off the gang that also has a person formerly associated with the telecom company which is on its last legs as mobiles have to a large extent replaced landlines.Also Read | Six nabbed by Mumbai police in INOX cyber fraud case, 50% of duped amount put on holdDCP (crime) Navnath Dhawale said that officers from unit X of the Mumbai crime branch received a tip off about a gang that was to steal copper wires in Borivali (east) on Tuesday night.Based on a tip off, a team led by acting senior inspector Vishal Raje conducted a raid and detained four accused persons who were carrying out digging work.“They claimed to be working on behalf of MTNL and also had forged paperwork to prove the same. The four were placed under arrest on verification and two bolero pick-up trucks, a JCB excavator and 985 metres of 2000 pair copper wires worth Rs 40 lakhs were seized,” Dhawale said.During questioning of the accused, the police found that Abdul Siddique Shaikh (38), who was an accused in a similar case at Mulund last year, was one of the masterminds.Story continues below this adAlso Read | How cyber fraudsters are using gold loans to break digital trail, Mumbai police explainApart from him Afzal Khan (35), also has an FIR registered against him in Kandivali police station in 2024 for a similar offence. The two other accused were identified as Sahil Shah (20) and Rizwan Malik (24).An officer said that they suspect someone from within MTNL gives them a tip off as they usually target wires that are no longer in use since it would not create any disturbances.“With talks of MTNL – BSNL merger, some sections of the underground wires are still operational and the accuracy with which the accused only target the non-functional section is suspicious,” an officer added.The arrested accused were produced before the court and remanded to police custody till July 4. The police are still on the lookout for more accused in the case.