Gold chains, expensive smartphones and cars are preferred by thieves looking to make a quick buck. It is bizarre for a gang to target a bus shelter, but perhaps even more odd is that it was done under the nose of the police.
A bus shelter, barely a few feet away from Sadashivanagar Police Station on New BEL Road, was stolen. The theft came to light on Monday when Praveen Lingaiah, Executive Engineer of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), arrived at the spot for an inspection. Instead of a bus shelter in dire need of an upgrade, he found that the entire metal structure — roof and all — was missing.
Mr. Lingaiah, who was to identify old bus shelters that need to be replaced, filed a complaint at the Sadashivanagar Police Station. The stolen bus shelter is over 10 years old and was built on a Public Private Partnership. Advertisers had borne the cost of the bus stand, estimated to be around ₹1.5 lakh.
According to the Sadashivanagar police, some unidentified men had recently dismantled the shelter and loaded it on a truck.
“The shelter was in shambles and police personnel assumed that the men were from the BBMP,” said a senior police officer.
The police are now collecting CCTV footage to identify the accused. This is the second such case in a matter of a few months. Bus shelters on Laggere Ring Road in Nandini Layout and in BTM Layout III Stage were stolen recently. There has been no progress in the two investigations.
"Though there was no financial loss to the BBMP, this trend is a matter of concern,” said Mr. Lingaiah.
