Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has caught Malik Jahangir, brother of a former member of the Punjab Assembly, red-handed during the crackdown against power pilferage.
According to a LESCO spokesperson, Jahangir was stealing electricity through an illegal connection and bogus meters. He was also providing stolen electricity to 80 houses in the Ali Raza Abad subdivision.
He said that the accused is also a defaulter of rupees worth 2.7 million. He added that LESCO has imposed a Rs1.5 million fine on Jahangir.
The spokesperson said that an application has been filed with the local police station seeking the filing of a first information report (FIR) against Jahangir.
During the ongoing anti-power theft operation, LESCO got 14 electricity thieves arrested by the police and detected pilferage on 359 connections in all its work circles, the company’s spokesman confirmed to The Friday Times (TFT).
He added that applications for FIRs against 358 electricity thieves have been submitted to the respective police stations, out of which 178 FIRs have been registered while 14 accused have been arrested.
Among the detected connections, one was agricultural, 20 were commercial, and 338 were domestic, and supply to all of them has been disconnected, he said, asserting that all the electricity pilferers have also been charged a total of 570,400 detection units worth Rs 28.804 million.
Sharing further details, the spokesman said that 6,482 detection units of Rs 300,000 were charged to a domestic connection on Arcade Road in the Ichhra area, 5,500 detection units of Rs 287,369 to a domestic customer pilfering electricity on a Natha building in the new Shad Bagh area, 4,365 units worth Rs 256,720 to a pilferer in Rasoolpura area, 3,800 detection unit bills amounting to Rs 256,000 to another electricity thief in Islamia Colony, and 4,273 detection units of Rs 250,000 were charged to a domestic connection in Ichhra area.
The spokesman mentioned that during anti-power theft operations, LESCO detected pilferage on a total of 8,588 connections in its domain. The company also submitted applications for FIR against 7,935 electricity pilferers, out of which 6,604 FIRs have been registered and 550 accused have so far been arrested. All the electricity pilferers have been charged an accumulative bill of Rs 802.462 million against 18,216,296 detection units.
It should be noted that operations against electricity thieves are being conducted as per the instructions of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division), and LESCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Engineer Shahid Haider is personally supervising these operations.
Engineer Shahid Haider vowed that indiscriminate operations would continue till the complete end of electricity theft. During the operation, the electricity thieves, as well as the LESCO officers and employees who patronize them, are also being brought to justice.