Nabarangpur: Transformers from at least 30 villages under Southco division in this district have gone missing in the past six months, leaving the villagers in darkness.
The villagers have registered complaints with the police and the electric department. But, neither the police nor the electricity department, nor the villagers could identify or catch these thieves. Such cases are steadily on the rise.
The thieves either smuggle the equipment to dealers outside the state or get the costly copper wires out from the stolen transformers. A transformer costs Rs 50, 000, said a department source.
The stolen transformers were mostly those put up under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana. Several of them were stolen within months of their installation.
Executive officer Basant Mohapatra admitted that as many as 30 round-shaped transformers have been taken away by thieves. In most cases, it was found that fuse wires were cut and the copper wire found missing.
He rejected claims that the villagers are living in the dark. “Whenever we got information about the theft, immediate steps are taken to get electricity from nearby transformers or fix new ones, he said.
