Police yesterday said that one man is in custody in relation to the stolen transformer that was found on the premises of a newly opened mall.
A senior police officer said that the person who is in custody is said to be the one who stole the transformer but declined to provide any further information. Investi-gations are continuing and upon completion the file would be sent to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before any charges are laid.
The officer once again said that persons would be charged even as others who were held in connection with the find of the transformer, including the owner of the Regent Multiplex mall, Ganesh Ramlall, have been placed on bail pending investigations.
The transformer was stolen from the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) Sophia location sometime late last year as, according to the company’s Managing Director Bharrat Dindyal, they had done an audit last year October and all the generators the company had in stock were intact.
It was only when a city businessman took three generators to be tested by the company that it was discovered that transformers had been stolen.
The three had been sprayed over.
Following that discovery the company checked its stock and found that two heavy duty generators had also been stolen and information received led to the transformer being found installed at the mall which is located at the corner of Wellington and Regent streets.
Dindyal on Monday had told Stabroek News that a transformer similar to the one found at the mall is still missing.
He said the transformers were among those the company had on standby to assist in the operation of the pumps during the flooding as back in 2005 during the Great Flood transformers were needed and the company had none. Dindyal said the transformers were part of a “contingency plan” and he said he hopes that whatever actions are taken by the police would send a strong message to those who are involved in the theft, selling and buying of stolen transformers.
The mall was opened in December last year but it was only recently that the transformer was discovered there and it was removed on Sunday morning.
