The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) detected a total of 79,418 connections from where customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles of five districts: Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara, ..in 233 days of the anti-power theft campaign.
A LESCO spokesman told the media here on Sunday that the company also submitted FIR applications against electricity thieves, out of which 74,409 FIRs were registered in respective police stations, while 30,597 accused have been arrested. The LESCO has so far charged a total of 93,901,152 detection units worth Rs 3,459,012,656 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 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.
The spokesman added, the LESCO found 397 customers stealing electricity through various means and 153 cases have been registered against the accused, while 31 accused were arrested during the last 24 hours.
On the 233rd 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, 14 were commercial, 01 agricultural, 01 industrial and 381 domestic, and all these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 462,196 units as detection bill amounting to Rs 7.526 million.
Apprising the media about some major power pilferers, he mentioned that LESCO charged Rs 350,000 detection bill to an electricity pilferer on Empress Road area Rs 180,000 detection bill to another power pilferer in Naulakhha area; Rs 170,000 fine in the form of detection bill to a customer stealing electricity in Shahdara Town and Rs 127,000 fine to a power pilferer also in Shahdara Town.
