Copper cables worth ₹3 lakh stolen from power substation
GURUGRAM: Unidentified suspects stole 412 metres of copper control cables from an underconstruction 220kV substation of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited at Sector 8 in IMT Manesar on Friday.
PG Satheesh Kumar, assistant general manager (electrical) of the private firm engaged in the construction work, said the stolen wires were worth ₹3 lakh.
This is the second such theft from the HVPNL premises in the last four months. Earlier on July 21, suspects had decamped with equipment worth ₹12 lakh, including copper control cables that have delayed the completion work of the substation, said
private firm officials engaged in the construction. They alleged that the two thefts have delayed the completion work of the substation by at least four to five months. Police said that in Friday’s theft; two types of copper wires wrapped in two drums were stolen, adding that the suspects are yet to be arrested.
HVPNL officials said that two substations of 220kV and 66kV respectively are being constructed at the same premises by the private firm. They said that the construction of the substations commenced in 2019 and was to be completed by 2021 but was already delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Amit Kumar, HVPNL executive engineer of Manesar division, said that the contractor is trying to arrange an alternative to the stolen control wires from some other construction sites so that all the control bays of the substation could become functional. “We have plans to charge up the 220kV substation by December 31,” he said.
Police said around six to seven thieves climbed an eightmetre high wall of the substation to commit the crime, adding that they broke a window and then two doors to gain access to the copper cable drums.
“We had expected to hand over the substation to HVPNL earlier but the thefts will delay the process,” Kumar added. “A German company’s plant in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, manufactures these cables which are meant for controlling the panel and operation system of the substation,” he said.
Kumar alleged that the stolen wires were the same set of wires that were procured in November as a replacement of the stolen wires in July this year.
Subhash Boken, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said that police are trying to trace the suspects with the help of local sources as well as technical surveillance.