900 Kia car engines stolen in Andhra over five years, police launch probe

Kia car engines stolen in Sri Sathyasai district, police suspect inside job, investigation ongoing.

As many as 900 Kia car engines were allegedly stolen in Sri Sathyasai district, prompting the South Korean company to lodge a complaint with the police, said an official on Tuesday (April 8, 2025).

Kia runs a car manufacturing plant at Penukonda in Sri Sathyasai district, where police believe the engines theft began nearly five years ago. The company filed a police complaint on March 19.

“It (engine thefts) started in the year 2020. It has been a continuous process, nearly five years. We will go deep into the investigation,” Penukonda sub-divisional police officer Y. Venkateshwarlu told PTI.

According to Venkateshwarlu, a preliminary probe has confirmed the theft of 900 engines. He observed that the engines were stolen on the way to the manufacturing plant and also from inside.

Police are suspecting that the massive theft is an ‘inside job’, prompting them to direct their probe towards the past and current employees of the car manufacturer.

“Not outsiders, it is from within. Not even a small piece will come out without their (Kia management) permission. We are checking who are all involved in it,” he said.

We did a preliminary enquiry, confirmed some loopholes and our main target is probing old employees while there is also the involvement of some current employees, said Venkateshwarlu.