Thieves flee with Connaught Place traffic signals' battery

 Suspected drug addicts and petty thieves left motorists caught in a chaotic jam in Connaught Place on Tuesday morning.

At around 11:30 am, the traffic signals unexpectedly went on the blink due to removal of the battery and power supply inverter of the traffic light system.

Blaring horns and fuming drivers waited helplessly as the Delhi Traffic Police tried to sort out the mess manually near the Regal cinema in the outer circle of Connaught Place.

An inspection of the signal’s junction box solved the mysterious ‘malfunction’ during office rush hour. The theft was found by head constable Pramod after which a case was filed with Connaught Place police station.

The traffic signal at the trouble spot is close to the Hanuman Mandir area on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, a notorious hub of vagabonds addicted to substance abuse.

On Tuesday, head constable Pramod was on duty between PTC circle and PTC-10. “I was surprised to notice all the traffic signals not functioning at 11.45 am,” Pramod told Deccan Herald.

He then went to check the ‘junction box’ at a nearby subway. “The lock of the box had been broken and the traffic light system’s inverter and battery were missing,” Pramod added. It was fixed after the head constable informed his traffic inspector and the police control room.

Connaught Place police station recorded Pramod’s statement to file the case under Section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code.

The spot is barely 100 metres away from Connaught Place and Barakhamba Road police stations, and near the office of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Range).
Around the same time, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) constable chased and overpowered a man who tried to snatch his mobile phone around 2 km from Connaught Place.

Contable Rajesh, a resident of Vasant Vihar, had come to Patiala House Courts Complex with a senior officer. The incident occurred when he was waiting on the driver’s seat of the car.  “The constable was trying to catch up on some sleep and kept a Samsung mobile phone on his chest. Soon, a man tried to grab the phone, but failed to hold it firmly. The phone fell from the snatcher’s hand,” said a police officer.

The man, Sunil, tried to flee, but Rajesh managed to nab him after a brief chase. Sunil is a resident of Jharera village in Delhi Cantonment area.