No incriminating material had been found in the data recovered from the hard disks that were reported stolen from the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) headquarters in Chennai, police sources said on Monday (June 8, 2026).

A special team of the Greater Chennai Police investigating the sensational case retrieved the data deleted from the hard disks and found nothing incriminating.

Data recovered

While 18 hard disks were reported stolen, the team found 34 hard disks in the possession of the suspect in Bengaluru. “Hard disks may have been stolen on earlier occasions, too, but not reported. The data have been recovered and prima facie, there is nothing incriminating. The contract employee in charge of the annual maintenance contract stole the hard disks and sold them to his associate in Bengaluru,” a senior police officer said.

He said the contract worker, Gopinath of Arakkonam, stole the hard disks and sold them to Manohar of Bengaluru. The data in the hard disks were erased, but the investigators managed to retrieve them.

“Gopinath seems to be a habitual offender. He has been stealing hard disks from the TNPDCL premises. Why the thefts were not reported earlier is being looked into,” the officer said.

Case shifted to CB-CID

The Crime Branch-CID of the Tamil Nadu police will investigate the theft of the hard disks from the TNPDCL headquarters. The case was transferred by Director-General of Police and Head of Police Force (DGP/HoPF) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, given the sensitive nature of the case, police sources said.

The theft of the hard disks led to speculation that it was a deliberate attempt to erase or tamper with evidence in an alleged multi-crore  scam in the TNPDCL or in its allied organisations. A top official in  TANGEDCO said that besides a data protection policy, strict access control measures were in place to secure the vital assets of the company.

Tender corruption case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case of alleged corruption in the tenders floated by TANGEDCO for the supply of distribution transformers during 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Acting on the direction of the Madras High Court, the CBI booked a case to probe the allegations of corruption that had resulted in unjust enrichment of bidders and a corresponding loss to the exchequer to the tune of ₹397 crore.

The CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch invoked provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and booked the case against the then officials of TANGEDCO’s Tender Inviting Authority and Tender Scrutiny Committee, and others.

The complainants in the case were Jayaraman Venkatesan, managing trustee, Arappor lyakkam; E. Saravanan, deputy secretary, AIADMK  Advocates’ Wing, Salem; and Rajkumar of Meikilarpatti in Usilampatti  taluk of Madurai district.