Indian police hunt for thieves who stole fighter jet tyre

The tyre for a Mirage 2000 fighter jet was taken from a lorry during a traffic jam in Uttar Pradesh

An Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter. A tyre from such a plane was stolen from a lorry in a traffic jam in Uttar Pradesh, India. AFP

Police in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh are looking for the culprits behind the theft of a fighter jet tyre from a lorry carrying military equipment.

The lorry driver called the police on November 27 to report that a group of car-borne thieves had stolen the tyre during a traffic jam on a motorway near Lucknow, the state capital, police told The National.

The motorist said he was driving slowly through traffic at midnight when the occupants of a black SUV cut the strap used to secure the tyre and drove off with it, Dheeraj Shukla, inspector at Ashiana police station, told The National.

The lorry was carrying six tyres for the Indian Air Force's French-made Mirage 2000 fighter jets and other military goods from an air base near Lucknow to another near the Pakistan border in western Rajasthan state. They were part of a consignment that included aircraft step ladders and a bomb trolley.

“The driver called us around 12am and informed us that somebody had stolen the tyre from his truck. We are investigating the case, we are checking all the CCTV footage. So far there is no clue,” Mr Shukla said.

The Mirage 2000 jets, designed by Dassault Aviation, cost about $43 million each and are considered among the best warplanes in the Indian Air Force.