CANACONA, SEPT 22
Thieves decamped with telephone cables and GI pipes, worth about Rs 50,000, from Ordhofond Bridge at Bhatpal-Canacona on Tuesday night, affecting over 70 phones in the locality.
According to sources, BSNL authorities in a complaint filed with Canacona Police on Wednesday evening stated that three different types of cables and eight GI pipes of 100 mm diameter have been cut and removed from the Ordhofond Bridge at Bhatpal.
It is learnt that the police reportedly took the BSNL team to Ordhofond Bridge for on-the-spot assessment, before registering the complaint of theft of BSNL properties.
The culprits decamped with 110 mts of copper cables of different sizes, which have been cut on both ends of Ordhofond Bridge, while eight GI pipes, four on either sides, are removed probably to make it easy to pull the heavy cables through the other pipes, which remained untouched on the bridge.
All the eight GI pipes have also gone missing along with the three types of cables.
Sources informed that these telephone cables were serving about 70 BSNL landline subscribers at Ordhofond, Partagal, Gotcomolem, besides other surrounding areas from a telephone exchange situated at Shristhal near Canacona Industrial Estate.
The telephone services to these many subscribers are totally disrupted since the theft, which reportedly came to light only past Wednesday afternoon.
It is learnt from BSNL sources that not many came to BSNL offices with complaints of non-working of their phones, but a phone linesman who reportedly went towards Ordhofond to attend a couple of non-working complaints, was surprised to find that there was no connectivity to any of underground cables beyond the bridge.
On further examining, the lineman reportedly found that the cables have gone missing from the entire bridge and accordingly reported the theft to his superiors at the main BSNL office.
BSNL sources suspect that the theft may have taken place on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, but expressed surprise that the theft had taken place along the highway, where vehicles passes throughout the night, besides police patrolling on highway routes has still gone unnoticed.
It may be recalled that Canacona Police Station Sarvajanik Ganeshostav Mandal’s idol was taken in procession on Tuesday night amid presence of almost entire police force participating in the late night immersion activity, locals suspects that the culprits used this opportunity to strike at the other side of the police station.
With this theft, the expected loss to BSNL is anticipated at about Rs 75,000, including other incurring expenses like transportation, labour, etc, to lay the cables.
