Power theft in Ludhiana: 39 violators nabbed, ₹13.8 lakh collected in fine

Nine offenders were held for power theft from residential areas in Sahnewal, Ludhiana, and ₹4.50 lakh was recovered from them

The enforcement wing of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Wednesday nabbed 39 power pilferers and collected around ₹13.8 lakh in fine from them during raids conducted in Sahnewal and Unit No.3, Focal Point.

An official of the enforcement wing of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) carrying out a raid to catch power violators in Ludhiana on Wednesday. (HT Photo)

Seven enforcement squads, accompanied by local police teams, raided residential areas including Tibba village, Natt, Saani, Nandpur and Dharod.

Superintendent engineer, Enforcement, Ludhiana, Punner Deep Singh Brar, said, “Nine offenders were held from residential areas in Sahnewal and ₹4.50 lakh was recovered from them. Also, 30 people were found using direct illegal connections at Focal Point near Tajpur Road and ₹9.3 lakh was recovered.”

When asked if any legal action was taken against the violators, Brar said that they have been asked to pay compounding fees and given stringent warnings.“In case any violator fails to pay the compounding fee, they will face legal action and repeated offenders will be put behind bars,” he added.

The formal complaints against these violators were also lodged with the anti-theft police station of PSPCL in Sarabha Nagar.

Notably, the enforcement department had also nabbed 24 power pilferers and collected around ₹10 lakh fine during a raid in Agar Nagar (Unit-2) last week.

Prior to that, PSPCL teams had raided the residential area on Jassian Road and a penalty of around ₹15 lakh was collected from the offenders after a power theft of 40 KW was detected. The officials revealed that ₹3,000 – 3500 per KW fine is collected from such violators.

In the wake of the deepening power crisis in the state, special instructions have been given to the enforcement wing to conduct raids in the district to catch power violators. “We are going to continue conducting raids in Ludhiana and more violators will soon be nabbed,” added an officer who is part of the enforcement wing.