Stealing bridge not a big deal, thieves were inspired by Nitish, BJP: Tejashwi Yadav

After a 60-feet long iron bridge was stolen from Bihar`s Rohtas district, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday alleged that the thieves were inspired by Nitish Kumar and BJP leaders as the latter had ‘stolen’ the government in the state in 2020.

Since its defeat in the 2020 Assembly polls, the RJD had been alleging that the party had lost the seats due to counting malpractices and poll rigging.

"When Nitish Ji and BJP can steal the government in Bihar, stealing a bridge is not a big deal. The thieves were inspired by Nitish Kumar and BJP who had stolen the mandate," Tejashwi said in a tweet.

"Nitish Kumar and BJP, who have been ruling the state for the last 17 years, are responsible for allowing the loot of a 45 years old 500 tonne iron bridge in Rohtas. Thieves arrived with gas cutters, JCB machines and uprooted the bridge in broad daylight. They were inspired from Nitish ji and BJP," Tejashwi alleged.

The thieves, posing as officers of the state Irrigation Department, used gas cutters and earth mover machines to demolish the bridge and take away the scrap metal in three days.

Interestingly, they took the help of local Irrigation Department officials and villagers during the removal of the iron bridge. By the time officials could understand about the theft, the thieves had fled with their "heavy" loot.

The bridge was constructed over the Arrah canal in 1972 at Amiyawar village which comes under Nasriganj police station. As by now, it became quite old and was declared dangerous, the local villagers were not using it, and using a concrete bridge adjoining it.