Nine Airtel employees arrested for stealing Rs.1.62 crore worth of tower equipment

A gang of engineers and other employees of AirTel, who stole expensive Radio Remote Units (RRUs) from the company’s mobile towers, was busted by the district police with the arrest of nine persons, the district SP Sharath Chandra Pawar said.

Giving out details of the peculiar theft of equipment from mobile towers, he said the Crime Control Squad (CCS) painstakingly investigated the case of thefts and cracked several such mysterious instances. The gang had confessed to their involvement in 38 such theft cases across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The stolen equipment is estimated to be worth approximately Rs.1.62 crore.

Following a series of mysterious RRU thefts from mobile towers in different parts of the district, District SP Sharath Chandra Pawar constituted two special CCS teams under the supervision of Nalgonda CCS Inspector M Jitender Reddy.

The teams conducted investigations



at several locations across the State and used technical expertise to identify and apprehend the gang. Though outsiders were initially suspected to be behind the thefts, the investigation revealed that the accused were employees and former employees of the same organisation.

The gang comprised three engineers, four riggers (technicians), a driver and a former employee. They allegedly exploited their positions and technical knowledge to steal equipment from the company. After keeping the suspects under surveillance, the special teams apprehended all nine members.

On November 14, at around 1 am, Nalgonda Rural police, who were checking vehicles on the outskirts of Gigirakalabavi Gudem, intercepted five persons travelling in two cars and a motorcycle under suspicious circumstances. During questioning, the group, which included Bhukya Balu, admitted that they were heading towards Kanchanapalli village to steal RRUs.