Another bizarre theft in Bihar: Entire pond 'stolen' at night

Bihar has witnessed another perplexing theft, this time involving the disappearance of an entire pond in Darbhanga district. The pond, allegedly publicly-owned and utilized for activities such as fishing, vanished and was replaced by a hut, leaving locals bewildered, reported news channels. The sudden appearance of the hut, on the erstwhile pond, prompted residents to alert the police. The accused land mafia, responsible for filling the pond to acquire the land, had already fled when law enforcement arrived, reports said.

Locals said that the pond, once a community asset, became a target due to the escalating land prices in Darbhanga. Despite community complaints and interventions by zonal officials that temporarily halted the pond-filling, the land mafia clandestinely continued the levelling work under the cover of darkness, ultimately erasing the pond entirely, reports said.

Authorities had previously visited the site and seized some items, but the perpetrators managed to carry out their operation at night, police officials cited in the report said.


Bihar has gained notoriety for peculiar thefts perpetrated by humans, including the theft of an entire diesel engine part by part from a railway yard in Begusarai district. Thieves dug a tunnel to the yard, gradually dismantling and stealing parts of the engine that had been brought there for repairs.

The case came to light after a case was registered at the Barauni police station for "Theft of a diesel engine, brought to the Garhara yard for repairs. Police recovered some missing parts from a gang which is also implicated in unbolting steel bridges and pilfering their components as well. In a separate incident last year, a railway engineer from Samastipur Loco Diesel Shed faced suspension for allegedly selling an old steam engine located at the Purnea court premises. The engineer purportedly used a forged letter from the divisional mechanical engineer of Samastipur, collaborating with other railway officials and security personnel in the engine's sale."

In another incident last yearr, an entire 60-foot bridge vanished in Rohtas district. The thieves utilized JCBs and gas cutters to dismantle the bridge, causing it to disappear within just three days.