In a shocking case, around 900 Kia car engines have been stolen over the past five years in the Sri Sathyasai district of Andhra Pradesh, prompting police to launch a major investigation. The engines were allegedly taken from the Kia car manufacturing plant in Penukonda, which is operated by the South Korean automobile company.
Kia officially filed a complaint with the police on March 19, after realizing that the engine thefts had been going on since 2020.
“This has been happening continuously for nearly five years,” said Penukonda Sub-Divisional Police Officer Y Venkateshwarlu. “We are taking this very seriously and going deep into the investigation.”
Police have confirmed that the 900 Kia car engines were stolen both while being transported to the factory and from within the factory itself. They strongly suspect that this could be an inside job involving employees who either worked in the past or are still working at the plant.
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“It’s not outsiders. Nothing can leave the plant without the management’s notice,” Venkateshwarlu added. “We found some loopholes during our preliminary inquiry and are now closely checking the roles of former and current staff.”
Special police teams have been formed to investigate the case further. They have already gathered several documents and records from the company for their probe.
So far, Kia has not responded to questions about how the thefts went unnoticed for five years, the total value of the stolen engines, or the effectiveness of its inventory and security systems.
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This case has raised serious questions about internal security, employee monitoring, and inventory control at the Kia car plant in Andhra Pradesh.
