Power pilferage detected at hotel, pharmacy

LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) inspection team detected electricity theft at Ashfaq Pharmacy in Nagra Chowk in an area of Dholanwal Sub-Division.

The company’s spokesman told media here Wednesday that Dholanwal SDO led the inspection team during a search operation against the electricity thieves and found that the owner of the pharmacy was stealing electricity by hooking directly from the transmission line of Lesco. The inspection team, he added, seized the wire used in the theft and also got registered a case against the accused in Nawankot Police Station. The electricity pilferer was also charged with a detection bill worth Rs200,000.

Meanwhile, Lesco Royal Park Sub-Division Officer (SDO) Muhammad Irfan along with his inspection team found that owners of Al-Imran Hotel and Al-Haadi Hotel near Lahore Railway Station were stealing electricity by reversing their power meters.

As many as 18 Air-Conditioners (ACs), 47 fans, 52 lights were being operated on the stolen electricity in the hotels. One of the hotels owners and Meter Reader Ghulam Abbas, who was allegedly conniving in the power theft, were arrested by the police. The company also suspended the Meter Reader and initiated a departmental inquiry against him.

He said that the inspection team also moved an application to the respective police station for registration of FIRs against the Meter Reader Ghulam Abbas and the accused. He mentioned that the accused would also be charged units under the detection bill.

Lesco detects 282 power pilferers on 68th day of anti-power theft campaign: Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) detected a total of 282 connections from where the customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles of five districts (Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara) on the 68th day of the grand anti-power theft campaign. The company has also submitted FIR applications against 268 electricity thieves, out of which 176 FIRs have been registered in respective police stations, while 24 accused have been arrested.

On the 68th consecutive day of anti-power theft campaign, the spokesman added, large agricultural and 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 20 were commercial, 02 agricultural and 260 domestic, and all these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 307,574 units as detection bill amounting to Rs13.186 million.

He explained that Lesco charged Rs298,000 as detection bill against 6,000 units to an electricity pilferer in Shahdara Lahore; Rs295,000 fine in the form of detection bill against 5,700 to another customer stealing electricity in Begum Kot area; Rs200,000 detection bill against 3,780 units to another power thief in Green Town Lahore; and Rs150,000 as detection bill to an electricity thief in Batapur.