Following the arrest of two people who used to install devices operated by a remote control to facilitate power theft, the Electricity Department has decided to take extra measures to check electricity theft.
Mechanic Sajid and shopkeeper Sanjay Rastogi of Lisari gate area were arrested after police were informed of a gang selling devices to facilitate power theft through a remote device.
Sanjeev Rana, Superintending Engineer ( City) of Electricity Department, said the recovery of the device also surprised the team that raided a house in the old city area two days ago and stumbled upon it.
The arrested members admitted to indulging in the practice for over a year and having installed devices in hundreds of houses on demand. “Now meters would be checked thoroughly to identify power thefts and the drive will continue until unrealistic line loss is there,” said Rana.
The arrests were made after state’s Principal Secretary (Energy) wrote to the ADG, requesting an action against the gang facilitating power theft. The accused, Sajid is a mechanic of electricity meters and he developed a device of controlling the pulse of a digital meter through remote.
For this, he roped in shopkeeper Sanjay who agreed to procure chips from an electronics market of Delhi at a price of Rs 250 which he used to sell at Rs 400. Sajid used to charge Rs 2,000 for installing this chip in a meter.
Police have recovered 43 such devices from their possession and details are being collected about the customers of the gang.