UBON RATCHATHANI: Three men have been arrested for stealing cables and wires from various spots in the Nakhon Ubon Ratchathani Municipality and selling them to junk shops, Pol Col Thanapan Padungkan, commander of the Muang police station, said at a press conference on Monday.
He said the first man in the gang, Thammasat Buachoom, 38, was arrested on the morning of Jan 7 by a police officer on patrol, who spotted him driving a sidecar motorcycle out of Soi Chaeng Sanit.
The man had a roll of cables hung around his neck and a sack of wires in the sidecar. The police detained him for questioning.
According to police, Mr Thammasat confessed he and two other men in the gang -- Santi Samranwong, 31, and Narong Pansanthia, 38 -- had stolen cables and wires belonging to the provincial electricity authority and telecommunication firms by cutting them away from various spots in the municipal area and selling them to junk shops.
The information led to the arrests of the two other men.
The three said they had been committing theft of this kind for about four months, working between 2am and 6am.