In 2022, a group arrived in Amiyawar village in Bihar with trucks, gas cutters and an earthmover. They claimed the Water Resources Department had sent them to remove an old, dangerous bridge over the canal.
The bridge was about 60 feet long and had not been used since a newer concrete bridge was built nearby. Because the work looked official, villagers allowed it to continue in broad daylight.
Over roughly three days, the men cut the bridge into pieces, loaded the metal onto vehicles and drove away. Police said much of it was probably sold as scrap.
The bridge was widely reported as weighing 500 tonnes, but later reports suggested the stolen metal may have weighed far less. Its exact weight remains unclear.
