Four men are in Police custody at Chipoka in Salima for allegedly stealing steel sleepers worth over K30m property of Central East African Railways (CEAR) meant for the rehabilitation of the railway.

Salima Police spokesperson, Jacob Khembo,  has confirmed the development to FaceofMalawi.

According to Khembo, the four have been identified as Richard Banda, 44, James Yatimu, 28, Zakaria Chisamba, 31, and McNeil Malinga

It is alleged that the steel sleepers were stolen from where the company kept them at Chipoka.

“The company site manager for the past weeks observed that some people were stealing these materials and Yesterday the site manager at Chipoka informed Chipoka police post about the incident,” said Khembo.

Police intercepted the vehicle which was to carry these materials from the house of Zakaria who is amongst the suspects and arrested all four suspects and also recovered the steel sleepers.

The four are expected to appear before the court where they will be formally charged.