Maha forest dept seizes 24 mobile tower batteries worth Rs2.45 lakh

On Saturday night, a white van sped past the forest department checkpost at Ashagadh, which led to a chase...

The forest department seized 24 batteries, which are used in mobile towers for backup power supply, worth Rs2.45 lakh on Saturday. The police suspect the involvement of a well-organised gang of thieves, who steal the batteries from unguarded mobile towers across the country.

The police suspect the involvement of a well-organised gang of thieves, who steal the batteries from unguarded mobile towers across the country. (HT photo)

On Saturday night, a white van sped past the forest department checkpost at Ashagadh, which led to a chase. “The van was finally found abandoned in a nearby jungle at Dahanu. After a search, we found the 24 batteries inside. The occupants had escaped into the forest,” said Uttam Shinde, Range Forest Officer, Dahanu.

A case of theft has been registered against unknown persons with the Dhanu police. “We have seized the van, which is allegedly stolen. We are investigating the case,” said PSI Vijay Godse of Dahanu police.

“The batteries are used for Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) in case of a power outage at a mobile tower. They were stolen from an unguarded mobile tower located between Ashagadh-Ambesari tower in Dahanu,” he added.