Bengaluru: Mobile tower battery thieves arrested after evading cops for a year
An MBA graduate along with his friend had been stealing private mobile tower batteries in Bengaluru and had been on the run for almost a year. They were arrested after they broke the usual protocol and stole batteries from a BSNL tower in the city.
FollowBengaluru: MBA graduate and his friend from Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, were arrested on Friday for stealing mobile tower batteries in Bengaluru. The thieves had been stealing batteries from private mobile towers in the city and had been evading the police for almost a year.Â
Reportedly, the police who recovered the batteries from them, said that the duo had been stealing only from mobile towers installed by private telecom companies. They never came under the police radar as the companies seldom raised complaints.
The duo, Dinakaran, 28, and Dharmendra, 28, was caught after they broke their regular protocol of not stealing from mobile towers installed by government-run operators. They mistook a BSNL tower in Tatanagar, near Kodigehalli, for a private mobile tower and stole 48 batteries.
A BSNL field engineer, who realised that the batteries he had seen on April 26 had gone missing the next day, filed a police complaint.
The police recovered Rs 1.2 lakh worth batteries, a car and a goods vehicle.Â
Reports state that Dinakaran is an MBA graduate who used to work with a mobile company in Chennai. He lost his job after the company shut down. He came to the city in search of a job and he joined his friend Dharmendra in stealing private mobile tower batteries.
The thieves confessed to the crime during interrogation. They were produced before a magistrate who remanded them in judicial custody.
Reports state that the duo had been selling the stolen mobile tower batteries to scrap dealers and they used a goods vehicle to transport them. Dinakaran told the police that he took to stealing because he failed to find another job.
