New Delhi, October 16, 2006

Press Release

Joint Delhi Police-BSES operation busts an illegal electricity distribution network; Posh garment showroom caught for power theft, Over Rs 80 lakh in penalties

·        Joint Delhi Police-BRPL Enforcement raids bust an illegal electricity distribution network in South Delhi’s Tughlaqabad area

·        Illegal network stealing and supplying over 140 KW of electricity to 800 Domestic, Commercial and Industrial customers, Penalised Rs over 53 lakh

·        FIR’s registered against three accused – Kingpin arrested and sent to Tihar Jail

·        Gokul Mega Mart, a posh garment showroom in East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar booked for stealing power 150 KW of power, Rs 30 lakh in penalties to be levied

BSES continues with its crusade against power theft. Recently BSES Enforcement Teams have unearthed power theft of around 300 KW in two separate and very diverse cases. In one, a group of muscle men had set up an illegal electricity distribution network to provide electricity to about 800 Domestic, Commercial and Industrial units and in another, a posh garment showroom doing brisk business was caught stealing power. Cumulative penalties of over Rs 80 lakh are being imposed.

(A) Illegal distribution network run by local muscle men turned ‘entrepreneurs’ busted

In a joint operation spanning six weeks, BRPL Enforcement Teams and 10 Delhi Police personnel, conducted a series of successful raids to demolish an illegal power distribution network, running parallel to BSES’ existing network, in the Tughlaqabad Area. The illegal network being run by a group of local musclemen was stealing over 140 KW of electricity from BSES LV mains and supplying the same to around 600 Domestic and 200 Commercial and Industrial units in an area spread over 1 sq km. “The illegal distribution system was also responsible for widespread outages in the area, also notorious for large scale theft of power.” said a BSES official.

 FIR’s have been registered against Hansa Chaudhary, Bittu and Jagdish Chander alias Jagga - the three kingpins of the illegal operation. While Jagga, the brain behind the entire operation was arrested by the local Police and sent to Tihar Jail, the other two are absconding. Cumulative penalties amounting to over Rs 53 lakh have been levied against the accused.

* IX - Industrial                  ** DX - Domestic

BRPL Enforcement Teams on several occasions had faced resistance from Jagga and his men. In a raid carried out in July, they had assaulted BRPL Enforcement Team personnel. Subsequently a FIR (684/06) was lodged.

(B)  Gokul Mega Mart, a posh garment showroom in Krishna Nagar booked for power theft, Rs 30

      Lakh penalty being levied

Recently, BYPL Enforcement Teams was raided and booked Gokul Mega Mart – a posh garment showroom in the bustling Krishna Nagar market for stealing power of over 150 KW. The meter installed at the showroom, which had a sanctioned load of 95 KW was also found to be 35 percent slow. A penalty of Rs 30 lakh is liable to be imposed on the showroom for Dishonest Abstraction of Energy under provisions of the Indian Electricity Act 2003.

According to a BSES spokesperson “Technology played an important role in detection of power theft in both the cases. Anomalies between connected and billed electricity were flagged at our centralized monitoring cell”

BSES, Delhi’s premier power distribution company, is committed to ensuring quality and reliable electricity supply to all its consumers.

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