A gang of thieves pulled off an extraordinary heist in broad daylight as they managed to steal a 60-foot defunct iron bridge across the Ara-Sone Canal in Rohtas district of Bihar in eastern India.

Police officer Subhash Kumar confirmed to AFP reporters that the thieves disguised as government irrigation officials.

“They took away the scrap in a heavy vehicle,” he said.

According to the villagers, it took the robbers three days to execute the heist.

The crafty scrap metal robbers reportedly came with bulldozers, gas cutters, and other equipment to pull off the bridge and drake away the scrap metal.

Villagers said they were stunned after witnessing the miraculous disappearance of the 500-tonne steel bridge overnight.

The 50-year-old bridge was built in 1972 at Amiyawar village over the Ara-Sone Canal.

Investigations revealed that the thieves, over the last 5 years, had been slowly and daringly chipping off the bridge built over a water canal, after an adjacent concrete bridge was made functional.

Although the police are yet to make any arrest, it said a full-scale investigation is ongoing.

Police spokesman Kumar also said scrap dealers had been duly alerted regarding any such materials to their knowledge, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

-AFP