GREATER NOIDA: A group of dacoits allegedly held four workers of a power substation at gunpoint on Saturday and stole equipment worth several lakhs from Delta – 2 in Greater Noida.Pawan Pratihast, an NPCL manager, said a new power substation is being developed to provide uninterrupted power supply to shopping malls, commercial areas and residential sectors in the area. The construction of the building has been completed but the installation of fitting machines and equipment is under way.Pratihast said the contractor had employed four workers — Ramesh, Mahesh, Hanuman and Ramavtar — who were sleeping at night in the open space inside the fenced substation. The main door was locked from inside .At 1am, around 6-7 dacoits arrived at the site in a truck. “They entered the premises after cutting through the barbed wire fencing from the back. The accused then disconnected the electricity supply from the MCB. In the darkness, they held all the four workers at gunpoint and robbed the place,” he said.Electric equipment were packed in cartons and kept in the building. “There were 11 boxes which had the equipment. The criminals stole valuables from four boxes. They then broke open the main door, loaded the valuables in a truck parked outside and fled,” he said.Mahesh said when he put up resistance, the criminals trashed him with a rod, leaving him with injuries on his hands and legs. The three other workers were also assaulted.The equipment was brought in from a private company from Goa to Noida last week. The missing equipment include two breaker gas pipe (33,000 V), 6 VT cable (33,000 V), 5 gas pipe (monometer connecting), six voltage transformers (33,000 V), one current plug and six end gas pipes, among others. Pratihast said some other equipment may also be missing and they are preparing a list of the stolen valuables. He said valuables worth Rs 50 lakh have been stolen.The criminals also vandalised the remaining boxes and instruments which they could not carry away with them. There were no CCTV cameras on the premises.Piyush Rai, SHO of Surajpur police station, said a case under Section 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to the committing of the theft) has been registered against unidentified criminals. “We have formed teams and launched a search to arrest the criminals,” he said. Substations seem to have come under the target of anti-social elements of late.On April 21, a 55-year-old substation officer was shot dead over power shut down at Dhoom Manikpur substation in Badalpur. The victim’s family members then forced the shut down of power supply for around 20 hours in the neighbouring residential and industrial areas.

Stay updated with all the Noida Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.