A battery installed in a traffic signal pole at Basaveshwara Circle in the heart of Bengaluru has been stolen, leaving the police shell-shocked.
A couple of months ago, the police had arrested a couple who were stealing batteries from signal poles across the city and had recovered around 230 batteries.
The recent theft wasn’t committed by the couple who are still in jail, police say.
Abhasali, a head constable attached to the High Grounds traffic police station, has filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police. In his complaint, he stated that on April 12, around 7 am when he was on duty at Basaveshwara Circle, he noticed the signal lights were switched off.
He immediately alerted the control room in the Traffic Management Centre and later searched for the battery in the signal pole only to find the battery storage box open and one of the batteries missing. The stolen battery is an Amaron 12V 75AH and costs around Rs 7,000.
The Vidhana Soudha police have registered a case of theft and are making efforts to nab the culprits.
The Ashoknagar police had arrested a couple Sikandar, 30, and his wife Najma, 29, residents of Chikkabanavara. The couple had given sleepless nights to the police by stealing around 230 batteries from signal poles across the city. They were stealing batteries from June 2021.
“Though the couple are in the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, two to three batteries have been stolen recently. We suspect that some new thief is behind the thefts. These batteries are usually sold in scrap shops. Our team is visiting scrap shops to check if the stolen batteries have been sold there. The used batteries are sold in the black market for Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000,” said a senior police officer.
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