In a major crackdown on electricity theft, the energy corporation’s vigilance team raided five villages. Approximately 160 cases of electricity theft were detected during the raids. Reports have been filed against the accused at the respective police stations. The departmental action caused a stir in the Roorkee electricity distribution division.
A major operation was launched on Wednesday morning following increasing complaints of electricity theft in Roorkee, Manglaur, Jhabrera, Kaliyar, and other areas. The vigilance team, along with a large contingent, reached Ghodewala, Margubpur, Bhauri Dera, Behdeki, and Belda. The arrival of the vigilance team caused panic among the villagers. Villagers climbed onto their rooftops and began removing the extra cables they had illegally connected to the power lines. Meanwhile, the vigilance team uncovered 160 cases of electricity theft from houses, shops, and other establishments.
The team seized the meters and wires and sealed them. The operation also created a stir in other areas of the division. Executive Engineer (Urban) Anil Kumar Mishra said that under the leadership of Assistant Engineer Vigilance Dhananjay, the energy corporation and vigilance team conducted raids in several villages on Wednesday. A large number of electricity theft cases were detected during the raids. Reports have been filed against the accused at the respective police stations.
Officials’ phones rang continuously throughout the day
When the energy corporation raided the homes of electricity thieves and took action, several villagers called their elected representatives, asking them to stop the corporation’s action. Meanwhile, the phones of the energy corporation and vigilance team officials kept ringing with calls from elected representatives from both villages and cities, but the campaign against electricity theft continued.
Many villagers fled after locking their houses
The vigilance and energy corporation teams began raiding houses, shops, and other establishments in several villages early in the morning to curb electricity theft. The sight of the large police force also frightened the villagers. Houses, shops, flour mills, and other places were checked one after another. Meanwhile, seeing the strict action being taken by the power corporation, many villagers locked their houses and fled, fearing that they would be caught for electricity theft.
Information about the action was given to relatives over the phone.
The power corporation is disconnecting the connections of more than 100 defaulters every day. In some places, even after the connections were disconnected, some defaulters secretly reconnected them. The power corporation was also aware of this. The corporation’s team, after thorough planning, caught several cases of electricity theft in one village after another. The villagers in the areas where the vigilance team took action informed their relatives about it. Throughout the day, villagers in Roorkee, Manglaur, Kaliyar, Dhanauri, and Jhabrera, among other places, continued to gather information about the vigilance team’s actions and routes on their own
