BENGALURU: In a shocking development inside the highly secure campus of the Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) at Yelahanka, items running into lakh of rupees have been stolen from a transformer installed there. The constructions division of the South Western Railway zone had been carrying out work for a sub-station at this spot, in the vicinity of the railway station here.
The discovery regarding the missing items was made on Monday, said a railway source. Estimates vary on the exact loss suffered by the Railways with sources pegging it anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 30 lakh.
According to the source, nearly 20,000 litres of oil placed inside a chamber to be used as a coolant in the transformer had been drained from it. "This must have been done in order to make the theft of copper easier," the source said.
"A total of 1,400m of copper wire have been stolen from the transformer. Copper has good value in the market and so whoever is behind it, must have eyed it. The difficulty in transporting the oil and the lack of big resale value for it must have resulted in it being left behind," he added.
An official said the present market value for copper is Rs 800 per kg, while the specific oil used in transformers costs Rs 70 per litre. "The constructions division of SWR is setting up a sub-station for electrical supply to the main transmission line. This will supply power to run electric locos. SWR had taken this portion of land a few years ago from the RWF for this purpose," a senior railway official told The New Indian Express.