LAHORE, Sept 13: A judicial magistrate at district courts on Tuesday remanded in police custody five accused arrested on charges of stealing copper from a Pakistan Railways’ freight wagon.

The railways police arrested the accused and recovered Rs1.8 million from their possession which they had earned by selling the stolen copper.

On Aug 4 last, the wagon was sent from Lahore city station to Mughalpura station where it was loaded with four 4,000kg copper wires worth Rs2.4 million. However, the wagon was stolen and later found empty in Kharian on Sept 7.

The railways police registered a case and arrested the accused -- Kharian Station Manager Muhammad Zaman, goods booking clerk Muhammad Adnan Hussain, Saleem Akhtar, Abdullah and Fayyaz Baig. A serving major, also involved in the scam, is in the army custody. Magistrate Abid Islam, while granting physical remand of the accused to the railways police till Sept 17, directed the investigation officer to complete probe by the next hearing.— Staff Reporter