Crackdown against power theft intensified in FESCO region, 26 more power pilferers caught

FAISALABAD, Mar 30 (APP): The Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) has intensified crackdown against electricity theft across eight districts of its region and nabbed 26 more power pilferers during last 24 hours.
A FESCO spokesman said on Monday that following the instructions of FESCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Engineer Muhammad Aamir, special teams carried out operations in six operation circles of the FESCO region and caught 26 more power thieves during the last 24 hours. More than 69,000 detection units were charged to the offenders while fines exceeding Rs 2.2 million were imposed on them.
Giving further details, he said that during the ongoing special anti-power theft campaign in the FESCO region, total 27,112 power thieves have so far been nabbed and they were charged more than 61.479 million detection units and fined over Rs 2.87 billion.
Meanwhile, an amount of more than Rs 2.29 billion has also been recovered from the defaulters.
He said that the power thieves were found involved in various illegal practices, including direct supply, shunt system, making holes in meter bodies, slowing down meters and other unlawful methods. Among them, 25,354 domestic, 847 commercial, 781 agricultural and 130 industrial connections were found involved in power theft, he added.
He said that applications have been submitted for registration of cases against 27,082 power thieves while cases have already been registered against 25,184 accused under the new amended electricity theft law. So far, 18,121 power thieves have also been arrested, he added.
Giving circle-wise details, he said that 6,340 power thieves were caught in FESCO First Circle and charged more than 14.9 million detection units with fines of Rs 707 million.
In FESCO Second Circle, 5,619 power thieves were detected and charged more than 14.827 million units with fines of Rs 666.1 million, he added.
He said that 2,980 power thieves were caught in Jhang Circle and charged more than 6.93 million units with fines of Rs 249.4 million while in Sargodha Circle 4,027 offenders were detected and charged more than 9.477 million units with fines of Rs 479.3 million.
In Mianwali Circle, 6,408 power thieves were caught and charged more than 11.714 million detection units with fines of Rs 183.4 million.
Similarly, 1,732 power thieves were nabbed in Toba Tek Singh Circle and charged more than 3.629 million units with fines of Rs 187.5 million, he added.
He said that the meters and other FESCO installations used in power theft were removed from the sites while zero-tolerance policy had been adopted against power theft across the region and strict action was being taken without discrimination.
Meanwhile, FESCO Chief Executive Engineer Muhammad Aamir said that electricity theft was a national crime and it was essential to eliminate it completely.
The operations would continue until the last power thief in the FESCO region was caught, he added.
He also appealed the general public to keep a close watch on electricity theft in their surroundings and immediately inform the FESCO helpline or the contact numbers available on electricity bills so that this national crime could be eradicated.