14 arrested in Transco raids

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 25. Fourteen persons, including two private electricians, were arrested by officials of the Vigilance and Anti-Power Theft Squad of APTRANSCO in seven districts on Sunday and Monday for pilferage of energy.

These are in addition to the arrest of 15 persons in Nellore where 70 cases have been registered in connection with the scam relating to manipulation of meters by the meter reading staff. Of these cases, 50 relate to residential houses, 15 to commercial establishments, four to agriculture and one to an industry.

Special police teams have been constituted for speedy investigation and arrest while some more meters are under examination to detect whether they have been tampered with. An amount of Rs. 22.96 lakhs was assessed as loss to the Corporation.

An electrician, Mr. Shaik Nagoor Mera of Tiruvur in Krishna district, was taken into custody on charges of abetting a silver shop owner to commit energy pilferage by meddling with the meter. Similarly, Mr. A. Rajendra Prasad of Vijayawada was arrested for allegedly helping a person pilfer power for domestic use.

A press release issued by APTRANSCO said here on Tuesday that Mrs. Y. Padmakumari, wife of Mr. Sukumar, Inspector of Police in the Vigilance Cell of the Civil Supplies Department, Tirupati, was arrested at Rajahmundry on July 24 on charges of indulging in theft of energy and causing a loss of Rs. 22,834 to APTRANSCO.

Mr. Matta Mohan Reddy, partner-cum-general manager of a hotel in the City was arrested and charged with indulging in theft of energy causing a loss of Rs. 5.25 lakhs. A rice mill owner, Mr. A. Koteswara Rao, of Peddareddypalem in Narsaraopet of Guntur district was taken into custody on charges of bypassing the meter and causing a loss of Rs. 2.63 lakhs.

The cashier of a wine shop at Uppal in Rangareddi district, Mr. P. Surender Reddy, was also arrested on charges of theft of electrical energy by directly tapping the supply from the overhead line at the time of inspection by the engineers and causing a loss of Rs. 13,851.

The release said that Mr. Mohammed Rafiu, owner of a cafe in the city, was arrested on July 24 and charged with indulging in theft of energy. The remaining arrests were made in Vijayawada, Parkala, Warangal, Zaheerabad and Moulali.

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Section  : Southern States
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