CHENNAI: Investigating the theft of sensitive hard disks from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) headquarters, the city police nabbed a 31-year-old man, a contract staff hired by the annual maintenance contractor, from Bengaluru. He reportedly confessed to handing over the hard disks to unknown persons for cash.

The man, Gopinath of Arakkonam, is being questioned at an undisclosed location, said sources. An assistant engineer (AE) was also questioned, police said on Thursday.

Police teams have collected details of contractors and those connected to purchase of goods and are examining call data records to trace if they have any links with Gopinath and other suspects. After registering a case, the Chintadripet police are working in coordination with the cybercrime wing and the TNEB vigilance wing to expedite the probe, officials said.

Electricity Minister R Nirmalkumar said 18 hard disks from various floors have been reported stolen. The hard disks contained data pertaining to tenders and purchases. Preliminary investigations revealed that they were taken from the headquarters over the past few months.

The police said CCTV cameras were non-functional in several floors of TNEB headquarters. Minister Nirmalkumar said efforts are under way to fortify the headquarters and restrict access to prevent such incidents in the future.