Chennai, June 10:
The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday transferred to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), the probe into the sensational theft of hard disks containing sensational data from the TN Electricity Board headquarters.
Two people, including a computer shop owner in Bengaluru, were arrested by the Special teams of Greater Chennai City Police, which had registered a case based on an official complaint from the EB department officials.
Though the theft had reportedly taken place on May 16 and 17, a few days after a new government assumed office and after the maiden visit of Electricity Minister C T Nirmal Kumar to the EB headquarters soon after taking charge, it came to light in the last week of May. The EB after initating a detailed internal inquiry formally filed a complaint with the police last week and in a swift action two people were arrested and 34 hard disks were recovered.
In a shocking incident and a serious security lapse, key Hard Disks (HDs) containing sensitive datas on tenders, coal procurement and recruitments made by the previous DMK regime were found stolen from the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) in Chennai and the government, suspecting it as an act of sabotage, immediately ordered a detailed inquiry into it.
Though reports said 18 HDs were found removed from the computers and stolen, an official complaint by the EB department said eight HDs were found stolen.
The theft of HDs containing confidential datas comes in the backdrop of the ongoing probe into the tender-related irregularities in TANGEDCO and in the wake of the Madras High Court recently ordering a CBI inquiry into the alleged Rs 397 crore transformer procurement scam, involving cartelisation and inflated pricing, besides financial transactions linked to tenders between 2021 and 2023, when the DMK was in power.
The theft of storage devices triggered strong condemnation including allegations that the theft could be part of a larger conspiracy to destroy or conceal critical information about irregularties that took place during the previous regine. Several political party leaders also demanded a CBI probe into the incident as the stolen devices contained sensitive datas.
After preliminary probe, the city police arrested Gopinath (31), a computer supervisor at the TNEB headquarters, on Sunday. He had stolen the hard disks and sold them to a computer company in Bengaluru.
Based on his statements, a special police team rushed to Bengaluru, arrested Murali Manohar, who owns a computer company that allegedly purchased the stolen hard disks and recovered a total of 34 hard disks.
While Gopinath was produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody until June 19, Murali was brought to Chennai on Monday and was being questioned by investigators, after which he would be produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody.
Meanwhile, the State government has handed over the case to the CBCID following a recommendation made by the Chennai Police to the Director General of Police (DGP). The transfer is expected to intensify the investigation and help authorities determine whether the theft was merely a case of illegal disposal of government property or part of a larger attempt to tamper with sensitive data stored by the electricity utility.
In a related development, though 18 hard discks (HDs) were said to be stolen, 34 HDs were recovered from the possession of Murali, strengthening doubts that HDs cluld have been stolen on earlier occasions. However, according to police, prima facie no incrimating material was found in the data retrieved from the stolen gadgets. Though the data in the HDs were erased, they were however, retrieved by the investigators.