The 11 bollards that went 'missing' from the pedestrian island on St Marks Road near the State Bank of India were knocked over by a vehicle, Bengaluru police has said. It was earlier reported that the bollards were allegedly stolen but Cubbon Park police clarified that they had been knocked over by a car on the night of October 28 and then were temporarily removed from the spot.
"Few days before on 28/10/19 night time one tata ace vehicle rashely hit to 8 bollards near SBI circle all the bollards are damaged, the prestige group security personnel and police kept them in prestige office premises.will fix them at earliest (sic)," the official handle of the Cubbon park police station tweeted.
Few days before on 28/10/19 night time one tata ace vehicle rashely hit to 8 bollards near SBI circle all the bollards are damaged, the prestige group security personnel and police kept them in prestige office premises.will fix them at earliest @DCPCentralBCP @CPBlr @kiranshaw. pic.twitter.com/ioJGu6xTfI
— CUBBON PARK BCP (@cubbonparkps) November 6, 2019
Bollards are short posts used to prevent traffic from entering a designated zone. TenderSure uses metal bollards on the side of its roads, to prevent vehicles from entering pedestrian and cycling lanes.
After the bollards were found missing, BBMP Assistant Engineer B Nagaraju approached the police, a TOI report stated. The bollards cost Rs 1.6 lakh. Bengaluru Police said Cubbon Park police have already registered a case under Section 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code. On Wednesday, officials of the BBMP were seen fixing the bollards back into place.
The issue had come to light when Managing Director of Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw tweeted, “Shocking theft of bollards on St Marks TendsrSURE Road - thieves hv done this in full view of CCTVs. I guess police were not patrolling - such distasteful uncivic n uncouth behaviour,” tagging the police.
@CPBlr @AddlCPWest @DCPCentralBCP Already case has been registered in @cubbonparkps Crime No-196/2019. u/s 379 IPC.
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) November 5, 2019
The rumours that the bollards may have been stolen may have stemmed from the fact that such an incident has taken place before. Earlier, in March 2018, four bollards along with a chain were also stolen in March, 2018, on Mission Road in the same Central Business District (CBD) area.
(Note: This copy was updated following a confirmation from the Bengaluru police about the incident.)