About 18,000 books, worth over a 1.5 crore, have been reportedly stolen from the PL Kelkar Library at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

The IIT-Kanpur Deputy Director Prof Manindra Agarwal has ordered a probe by the Deputy Librarian Dr S.K. Vijainand to inquire into how these costly books were stolen from the high-secured library having a staff of 22 persons. Startled by the theft of books, the Institute’s Advisrory Committee (IAC) has directed the librarian Prof R. Gurunath to review the security of the library and take immediate steps to check further theft of books, ranging from subjects from engineering to aeronautical and space science.

Most of the books which are stolen are rare and have a high price tag. These books are not easily available in the market. The IIT Kanpur had ordered for the import of majority of them to procure from libraries abroad.

The cost of these 18,000 stolen books is roughly around 1 crore to 1.5 crore. The actual cost will be known after the probe. A senior official of the P.L. Kelkar library confided that a few of them were issued to students but never returned by them even after passing out from the Institute. However, others are missing from the library inventory without they being issued to any student or faculty member.

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“This is very serious and indicates that the books were being stolen from the library in connivance with some staff over the years. This needs to be probed thoroughly and the culprit should be brought to books,” he said.

Prof Agarwal said that the librarian has been directed to check the records and if the books were issued to students and faculty members then they will be issued notices to return them or pay up the cost. “If no records were found of missing books then action will be initiated against the concerned library staff,” he warned.

Meanwhile, the IAC has directed the librarian to do Radio Frequency Identification Device (RIFD) tagging on each book available in the library. An automated siren will buzz if anyone tried to take or steal the RIFD-tagged book outside the Library without getting it properly issued.

The buzzer is automatically switched off once the RIFD-tagged book is issued after making an entry into the computer. The IAC has also directed to increase the library staff and install more CCTVs. It has also suggested banning entry of student and their exit in the library in groups. Instead, they will be allowed entry and exit one by one to check cases of theft of books from the library.