Bengaluru: Couple arrested for stealing traffic signal batteries

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 16 : Bengaluru police arrested a couple for stealing traffic signal batteries on Tuesday.
A senior police officer from Ashok Nagar police station told ANI, "With the increase in cases of stealing of traffic signal batteries, we started scanning the CCTV footages and spotted a couple moving around suspiciously between 3 am and 5 am on a scooter. The couple had disabled the tail light of their scooter to avoid the cameras to capture the vehicle registration number."
We collected data of 4000 similar scooters from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and randomly questioned over 300 people and had to camp at Goraguntepalya junction for a few days to get hold of Sikandar and Najma, said the senior officer.
The couple started stealing the batteries of the traffic signals in June 2021. A total of 68 cases of stolen traffic signal batteries have been registered at various police stations across Bengaluru. The accused used to sell these batteries as scrap and make money, said the police official.
"Accused Sikandar is a tea-seller and Najma a garment worker. Sikandar is a history-sheeter and has previously been arrested for stealing two-wheelers in 2017 and 2018 by Upparpet and JJ Nagar police Stations," added the police officer.