Rampal Power Plant: There’s no stopping the thieves!
It seems nothing can stop organised criminal gangs from stealing machines, materials and different kinds of equipment from Bagerhat's Rampal coal-based thermal power plant.
Over the past year and a half, 62 people were arrested on charges of stealing equipment and materials worth Tk 1 crore, including a coal quality testing machine, 5,000kg of copper wire and huge amounts of GI pipes, iron pipes, cutter blades, plain tin sheets, and more.
Meanwhile, at least 34 cases had been filed with Rampal Police Station over incidents of theft.
Police officials, who investigated the cases and interrogated the arrestees, said some corrupt officials and staffers of the plant are in league with the thieves, which is why stopping the thefts will not be easy.
Law enforcers and power plant officials have also blamed the poor security arrangements, an insufficient number of people to guard the areas where important materials are kept, and the absence of CCTV monitoring systems.
The biggest theft took place on January 14 when the "Bomb Calorimeter", a coal quality testing machine worth Tk 47 lakh, was stolen from a locked laboratory.
"The US-manufactured Bomb Calorimeter is the lone machine to test the quality of coal
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