Police have arrested a Bengaluru-based shop owner in connection with the theft of hard disks from the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) in Chennai.
The accused, identified as 32-year-old Murali Manohar, was taken into custody after investigators allegedly traced the stolen hard disks to his shop in a commercial complex in Bengaluru.
Theft reported from TNEB headquarters
The case came to light after several hard disks were reported missing from employee computers at the TNEB headquarters on Anna Salai in Chennai.
Following a complaint filed on June 1, the Chintadripet police registered a case and formed multiple special teams to investigate the theft.
Investigators later determined that the hard disks had been stolen on May 18.
Contract worker held first
Police initially arrested Gopinath (31), a contract employee associated with a private firm responsible for annual maintenance work at the TNEB headquarters.
According to police, Gopinath had access to the premises as part of his work responsibilities. During questioning, he allegedly confessed to the theft, leading investigators to Murali Manohar.
Stolen devices recovered
Based on the information gathered during the investigation, police recovered the stolen hard disks from the Bengaluru shop owner.
Authorities also seized 34 additional hard disks and 20 RAM modules, which are suspected to have been stolen from various establishments where Gopinath had previously worked as a contract employee.
Investigation continues
Both accused have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Police said efforts are underway to retrieve and examine data stored on the recovered hard disks through legal procedures. Investigators are also probing whether the accused were involved in similar thefts elsewhere.
Further investigation into the case is ongoing.