The investigation into the missing car engines from the Kia facility has picked up pace, with the Director General of Police personally overseeing the case.
According to department sources, police suspect that former employees of the Kia factory may be involved. One such ex-employee from Tamil Nadu has already been taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Based on information provided by the arrested individual, a 20-member team has been dispatched to neighboring states to locate and apprehend other suspects. Their passports and visas have reportedly been seized to prevent any attempt to flee the country.
Kia’s facility in the Sri Sathya Sai district includes around 54 plants, with 26 serving as ancillary units. The main plant has a production capacity of 58 cars per hour. The industrial hub employs thousands and handles transactions worth thousands of crores.
The disappearance of 940 car engines has triggered major concern. The Korean company managing the plant lodged a complaint, and a case was registered at the Kia Industrial Police Station in Ammavari Palli on March 19. An SIT was immediately formed to investigate.
While the value of the missing engines may be relatively small in comparison to Kia’s overall operations, the company is treating the incident with utmost seriousness to prevent any recurrence.
The management has requested a thorough investigation to uncover how the engines went missing, identify those behind the theft, and trace the stolen parts.
Police are probing whether the engines were hidden, sold as scrap, or resold as spare parts.
