Maharashtra: Five held for stealing batteries to extract lithium

The Nagpur rural police in Maharashtra have arrested a gang of five that stole batteries from mobile tower sites and sold them to another gang for extraction of lithium, an official said on Wednesday.

The police found 82 batteries in the gang’s possession. Each battery is worth nearly Rs 90,000, the official said.

The gang targeted the mobile towers of a particular service provider as it uses batteries containing lithium, he said. The gang sold the batteries to another gang from Delhi that extracted lithium and stole the silvery-white metal to battery manufacturers, the official claimed. The five, identified as Kalim, alias Alim Sheikh, Mehboob Sheikh and Najim, alias Aklaq Yusuf Pathan, Aman Mehrajudddin Malik and Sushil Jamunaprasad Shahu, targeted 27 mobile towers in Nagpur rural, Nagpur city and Wardha district, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Vishal Anand.