Six men arrested for stealing ethanol-laden truck

Police in Lucknow have arrested six men involved in the theft of a truck loaded with ethanol. This unusual crime happened early Saturday morning when the suspects pretended to be excise officials and seized the vehicle. The police identified the main suspect as Ranjeet Awasthi, who is believed to have planned the theft. He was arrested along with five others near the Raitha Underpass in the Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) area on Monday. The group used two cars to approach the truck. Thanks to a GPS tracker on the truck, police were able to locate it quickly. They recovered the stolen truck, along with about 2,290 liters of ethanol, and found an illegal gun and ammunition in their search. The total value of the recovered items is around ₹ 80 lakh, according to authorities. The truck's driver, Arif Ali, managed to escape and reported the crime to the police shortly after it occurred. Ranjeet Awasthi, who had recently lost his job as a driver, led the planning of this scheme. The five other men arrested ranged in age from 18 to 42 years old.