Surat: Hazira Police have arrested two main suspects, including a leader of the Samajwadi Party, in connection with the Rs. 5.87 crore theft of stainless steel pipes from the Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) storeroom in Hazira.

Deep Vakil, ACP-J-Division said, “On July 27, 2024, a theft case was registered at Hazira Police Station involving steel pipes worth Rs. 5.87 crore stolen from L&T. Two teams from Hazira Police were working to apprehend the absconding suspects. The main accused, Mohammed Riyaz Khan, who bought the stolen pipes, was apprehended in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh, where he was hiding as a Kavad Yatri. Another main suspect, Vivek Sharma, was arrested in Rishikesh of Uttarakhand.”

The accused were later brought to Surat and presented in court, which remanded them to four days in police custody.

According to the police, Mohammed Riyaz operates a scrap business in Vadodara. Before the last Lok Sabha elections, he was the secretary of the Samajwadi Party’s UP unit, and his name has recently been nominated for the post of national secretary.

Earlier, Hazira Police had apprehended three suspects in this case, and Riyaz’s involvement in the theft emerged during their questioning.

L&T’s prestigious Hazira plant is considered a unit of national importance, as it manufactures many defense and strategic sector items. DeshGujarat