A brand new Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus shelter worth Rs 10 lakh has mysteriously vanished in Bengaluru within a week of being installed on the bustling Cunningham Road, reports The Indian Express.
The bus shelter, fortified with a stainless steel structure, installed on August 21, was located behind the Bengaluru city police commissioner’s office, about a km away from Vidhana Soudha.
It was discovered missing on August 28. Nearly after a month later, on September 30, N Ravi Reddy, the associate vice-president of a company responsible for constructing BMTC bus shelters, lodged a complaint with the High Grounds police.
Police registered a case under Section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code and collected CCTV footage from nearby buildings.
The bus stop was a shelter for commuters heading to destinations such as Lingarajapuram, Hennur, Banasawadi, Pulikeshinagar, Gangenahalli, Bhoopasandra, Hebbal, and Yelahanka.
Meanwhile, Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday said that a new bus stop will be constructed at the site.
“BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) is not constructing any bus stops… Now, BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) will construct and they will take advantage of the attachment (bus stop shelter). We are not constructing… Somebody removed that. I will talk to the commissioner and see that a new bus stop is there,” Reddy told news agency ANI.
This is not the first time such incidents have been reported in Bengaluru. Similar incidents have also been reported in HRBR Layout and Kalyan Nagar. A cop told IE that the bus shelters are made of stainless steel and one can get a good price after selling it.