LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) detected a total of 440 connections from where the customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles of five districts (Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara) on the 33rd day of the grand anti-power theft campaign.
The LESCO spokesman told media here Tuesday that the company has also far submitted FIR applications against 439 electricity thieves, out of which 177 FIRs have been registered in respective police stations, while 47 accused have been arrested.
Grand anti-power theft operations against electricity thieves are being conducted on the directives of the Federal Power Division and the LESCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Engineer Shahid Haider is supervising these operations.
The LESCO chief vowed that the operations would continue without discrimination until the complete end of electricity theft. The electricity pilferers as well as the LESCO officers and employees who facilitate them are also being brought to justice.
On the 33rd consecutive day (Oct. 10) of the anti-power theft campaign, the spokesman added, large commercial consumers were also found involved in electricity theft and all of them were also disconnected and charged with detection units.
Among the seized connections were 13 commercial, 01 agricultural and 426 domestic, and all these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 832,082 units as detection bill amounting to Rs 36.839 million.
He explained that LESCO charged Rs 492,562 detection bill against 8,890 units to an electricity pilferer in Mughalpura area; Rs 460,000 fine in the form of detection bill against 7,666 units to a customer stealing electricity in Okara; Rs 300,113 detection bill against 5,431 units to a power thief in Ganad Singh Wala area of Kasur district; and Rs 300,000 as detection bill against 5,325 units to an electricity thief in Mustafa Town Lahore.
During the 33 days of grand anti-theft campaign, the spokesman mentioned, the LESCO detected pilferage on 15,584 power connections and submitted 15,545 FIR applications against electricity thieves in the relevant police stations out of which 14,213 FIRs have been registered, while 4,935 accused have so far been arrested by the police. The LESCO has so far charged a total of 32,814,095 detection units worth Rs 1,460,319,144 to all the power pilferers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023