Palakkad: What residents of Thriveni Nagar initially believed was yet another power cut soon took an unusual turn when they discovered that eight fuses had been stolen from a local electricity transformer.

Power supply to the area was disrupted on Thursday night. Residents initially assumed the outage was part of the ongoing power cuts in Keralam and waited for electricity to return.

However, when the supply remained disconnected for nearly two hours, they contacted the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) office.

The KSEB officials who arrived at the spot found that the transformer was operating without its fuses.

‘Initially we assumed that it was part of the power cut. However, as the electricity connection was not restored even after two hours, we contacted the KSEB office,’ a resident said.

According to residents, eight fuses were found missing from the transformer.

They also recalled a similar incident in the past when someone had removed a fuse and left it on the ground.

The residents have approached the Palakkad Town South Police, which has begun a preliminary investigation into the incident.

Police officials said they were examining CCTV footage from the area in an effort to identify the people responsible. Residents and police suspect that anti-social elements could be behind the incident.

KSEB is also likely to file a complaint regarding the theft. A case would be registered based on the complaint, officials said.

For residents already dealing with power disruptions, the incident added another layer of uncertainty, with the latest outage turning out not to be a routine electricity cut but a suspected act of theft.