According to an FIR lodged in the Ankleshwar City Police Station, thieves scaled the workshop's boundary wall and broke open the lock on the radioactive search room before escaping the same way. The security men, who were posted at the entrance, spotted no one there.

The machines were rod-shaped, about three inches in diameter and six inches long. A case has been registered and PI J R Parekh is investigating.

A police spokesman said such a theft had never been reported before. He said the machines were worthless for the miscreants because they would not be able to use it, but admitted the possibility of their being sold to private exploration companies elsewhere.