About 600 tin sheets manufactured at Raymond Steel factory, Igatpuri, were stolen a month ago. The driver allegedly forged the documents and took delivery of the consignment. About 300 sheets were sold to a scrap dealer, Pratap Bhaiyya, who runs a weigh bridge along the Mumbai-Agra highway, at Vadivarhe. The rest of the sheets were sold in Punjab, where the theft came to light. Pratap was arrested and remanded to police custody. He was released on bail on Friday. Another person, Habibullah, who was arrested in connection with the theft was also given bail.

Acting on a tip-off, Director General of Police Arvind Inamdar ordered a raid involving about 100 police personnel from Thane (rural) on weigh bridges and garages along the highway. However, nothing was found. The Nashik police, tooraided a godown in the Bhadrakali area and found a cable roll, for which no theft case had been registered anywhere in the district. Three persons were arrested and remanded to judicial custody and three weigh bridges belonging to Pratap, Khan and Habibullah were sealed.

No complaint has yet been registered in any of the police stations along the highway of theft of goods from containers. The theft of tin sheets from Raymond Steel is being investigated.

FOR A CLEANER LONAR: Over 300 volunteers led by an amateur astronomers' club here will gather at the Lonar crater -- formed as a result of a meteor strike about 50,000 years ago -- to participate in a cleanliness drive to create public awareness about the scientific significance of the site.

The Lonar crater, is circular with a diameter of about 1,800 m and a depth of 170 m. It is the only known crater formed in basalt type rock as a result of the meteor's impact. Located in Mehkar tehsil of Buldhana district, the area around the crater is beingexposed to pollution as a result of heavy dumping of garbage, members of the club told Express Newsline. Sewage from Lonar town flows into the cater in the absence of a drainage system, club member, Anand Asolkar said. Renowned astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar will guide the participants.