LAHORE: Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has detected a total of 75,276 connections from where the customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles of five districts (Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara) in 222 days of grand anti-power theft campaign.
LESCO spokesman told the media here Sunday that the company had also submitted FIR applications against electricity thieves, out of which 71,540 FIRs had been registered in respective police stations, while 30,031 accused had been arrested. The LESCO has so far charged a total of 90,769,366 detection units worth Rs 3,376,105,222 to all the power pilferers.
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 was supervising these operations. The LESCO chief vowed that the operations would continue without any discrimination until the complete end of electricity theft. The electricity pilferers as well as the LESCO officers and employees who facilitate them were also being brought to justice.
The spokesman added, the LESCO found 304 customers stealing electricity through various means and 144 cases had been registered against the accused, while five accused were arrested during the last 24 hours.
On the 222nd consecutive day of the anti-power theft campaign, he mentioned that large commercial consumers were found involved in electricity theft and all of them were also disconnected and charged with detection units. Among the seized connections, he explained, 11 were commercial, 03 agricultural, 01 industrial and 289 domestic, and all these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 229,841 units as detection bill amounting to Rs 5.629 million.
Apprising the media about some major power pilferers, he mentioned that LESCO charged Rs 380,000 detection bill to an electricity pilferer in Phoolnagar; Rs 245,000 detection bill to another power pilferer in Saddar area of Phoolnagar; Rs 150,000 fine in the form of detection bill to a customer stealing electricity in Satto Katla area of Lahore; and Rs 140,000 fine to a power pilferer in Shahdara Town.
