Months after the switchboards installed atop the electricity supply poles on the Outer Ring Road were taken away, the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) device and batteries of two sets of CCTV cameras installed on the outskirts of the city, have been stolen.
Sources in the Alanahalli Police station in Mysuru said that the UPS device, batteries and switches of CCTV camera sets installed at IPS Srinivasanagar near the Outer Ring Road junction with T. Narsipur road and near Doddalada Mara on Mysuru-T. Narsipur road had been stolen.
While the CCTV cameras had been mounted atop poles, its associated utility box containing the UPS device, batteries and switches in fixed to the ground.
The unidentified thieves had apparently targeted the utility boxes fixed on the ground and force-opened them before taking away the devices. The thieves had approached the utility boxes from an angle that is not covered by the CCTV cameras to commit the crime. However, it has been learnt that they had targeted both the places within a gap of half an hour.
The theft came to light after the police personnel at the City Police Commissioner’s office found that the CCTV cameras were not working and alerted the private maintenance contractor about a week back. Only when the maintenance contractor’s personnel reached the spot to attend to the problem, it was realised that the devices had been stolen.
Power supply disconnected
It has also been pointed out that the power supply to street lights on the Outer Ring Road had been disconnected in view of the failure of the civic authorities to clear the outstanding electricity bill to Chamundeshwari Electricity Company (CESC).
Meanwhile, the theft of the devices of the CCTV cameras comes about six months after about four to five Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) Distribution Box switchboards were taken away from the electricity poles along the ring road.
Thieves had targeted the electricity poles on the Outer Ring Road near Rajiv Nagar and Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in the first week of December 2022. Though the switchboards had been installed atop the electricity poles, the thieves had climbed the poles and pried open the boxes and taken away the MCB switchboards.
