Remember Bihar's missing bridge? Now thieves have stolen a 40-metre mobile tower

In a theft so bizarre it sounds straight out of a movie, thieves in Bihar have allegedly made an entire mobile tower disappear. A towering 40-metre telecom structure, along with a diesel generator and other equipment, has mysteriously vanished from Dumraon town in Buxar district, leaving police scratching their heads.

Acording to a report of the Times of India, the jaw-dropping theft came to light when officials from GTL Infrastructure Limited visited the site for an inspection. The tower had been lying unused for years, but what they found was shocking — the massive structure was gone, leaving nothing but an empty piece of land.

Company official Baijnath Ojha promptly lodged a complaint with Dumraon police, triggering an investigation into what could be one of the most audacious thefts in recent years.


The tower stood on land owned by Harinath Yadav, who claims his lease agreement with the company expired in 2022. According to Yadav, he had not received rent payments since 2017 and had even sent legal notices to the company after the contract ended. He has denied any role in the tower's disappearance.

But the mystery doesn't end there. Company representatives also discovered that the diesel generator and other telecom equipment had vanished along with the tower.

Residents of the area are stunned. While thefts of batteries, cables and small telecom components are not uncommon, locals say stealing an entire mobile tower is on a completely different level.

Investigators suspect a highly organised gang may be behind the operation. Dismantling and transporting a 40-metre steel structure would have required heavy machinery, technical expertise and a sizeable workforce. Police believe the operation likely took several days to complete.

The biggest question remains: How does a giant mobile tower disappear without anyone noticing?

Dumraon SDPO Polast Kumar confirmed that a case has been registered and a detailed probe is underway to identify those responsible.

If the story sounds unbelievable, Bihar has seen something similar before. In 2022, a gang posing as government officials allegedly dismantled and stole a 60-foot, 500-tonne iron bridge in Rohtas district. Armed with gas cutters and earth-moving machines, they took apart the bridge over three days and carted away the metal as scrap. Villagers watched the entire operation, believing it was an official government project—until the "bridge workers" vanished along with the bridge itself.

With a bridge stolen in 2022 and now a mobile tower gone missing, Bihar's thieves appear determined to prove that no structure is too big to steal.