Pune, 6th May 2026: BSNL telephone services in parts of Kothrud were disrupted after thieves allegedly stole an underground copper cable belonging to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) from the Mrutyunjay Mandir Chowk area.
A complaint in the matter was filed at Alankar Police Station by Kailas Paymode, sub-engineer from BSNL’s Erandwane division. Based on the complaint, police have registered a case against unidentified persons.
According to police officials, BSNL maintenance staff first noticed a disruption after a jelly-filled copper cable near Karve Putala Chowk was found damaged, leading to the shutdown of telephone services in the area.
During further inspection of the underground network near Mrutyunjay Mandir Chowk, officials discovered that a section of the cable had been stolen from the duct.
Police said the stolen underground cable is estimated to be worth nearly ₹10 lakh. The theft caused major inconvenience to BSNL users in the locality as communication services remained affected. Police Sub-Inspector Ganesh Dixit is leading the investigation.
This is not the first such incident in the area. A few months ago, BSNL cables were similarly stolen from the Karve Putala locality in Kothrud. In that case, Alankar Police had arrested suspects originally from Uttar Pradesh and seized a tempo along with the stolen cables.