Anantapur: Miscreants stole Dharma Ratham, the electric bus offering free services to pilgrims of Tirumala, from its parking place in GNC area on Sunday.
Sources said the Rs 2 crore-worth electric bus had been pressed into service to avoid pollution around the Lord Venkateswara Shrine.
Personnel of TTD transport department found the bus missing from where its driver had parked it in GNC area on completing duty. They immediately informed Tirupati police, who alerted all the nearby police stations.
The missing Dharma Ratham had a GPS system and as tracked, police found it parked near the Biradavada check post of Naidupeta, nearly 75 km from Tirupati. When the battery of the bus ran out, miscreants parked it on the roadside.
However, when they saw a police team approaching, they ran away through the Tidco housing colony in Naidupeta.
Police have registered a case and are looking for the thieves.
The incident exposed the loopholes in security measures adopted by the TTD for its annual brahmotsavam.
BJP leader Bhanuprakash Reddy criticised TTD over the lapse. He recalled that previously, the car of a TTD health officer had been stolen.
