The theft of hard disks from the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) headquarters in Chennai has not revealed any incriminating material, according to police sources. A special team of the Greater Chennai Police recovered and restored deleted data from the stolen hard disks and found no evidence of wrongdoing. While only 18 hard disks were officially reported missing, investigators recovered 34 hard disks from a suspect in Bengaluru, raising concerns that similar thefts may have occurred earlier without being reported.
Police identified the main accused as Gopinath of Arakkonam, a contract employee associated with the annual maintenance contract. He allegedly stole the hard disks and sold them to Manohar in Bengaluru. Although the data stored in the devices had been erased, investigators were able to retrieve it successfully. Officials stated that the recovered information did not contain any incriminating content and are also investigating why previous thefts, if any, were not reported.
Given the sensitive nature of the case, the investigation has been transferred to the CB-CID by Director-General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal. The theft had sparked speculation that it might have been an attempt to destroy or tamper with evidence linked to an alleged multi-crore scam involving TNPDCL or its associated organisations. However, a senior Tangedco official said the company had strict data protection and access-control measures in place to safeguard its digital assets.
The case gained significance because the CBI is already investigating alleged corruption in Tangedco’s transformer procurement tenders during 2021, 2022 and 2023. Acting on Madras High Court directions, the CBI registered a case alleging that irregularities in the tender process caused a loss of about ₹397 crore to the exchequer. Despite concerns that the stolen hard disks could contain evidence related to the corruption probe, investigators said the recovered data did not reveal any material connected to the allegations.
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