E-Paper
Prayagraj power theft: 19,000 cases pending at Power Police Station
Over 19,000 power theft cases are pending for the past 5 years at Power Police Station, with no charge sheet filed due to delayed investigations.
At least 19,000 cases of power theft lodged by the power department have been pending at Power Police Station for the past five years. Due to pending investigations in these cases, no charge sheet could be filed in them.
Officials say that 8,000 such cases have been disposed of.
However, most of those against whom the cases of power theft were registered are not turning up despite being served a notice, following which chargesheets are delayed and cases could not be disposed of timely.
A Power Police station was established in 2019. On average, 5,000 to 5,200 cases of power thefts are registered at the police station in a year. However, most of the people caught for power theft failed to pay the hefty fine imposed in such cases. They did not turn up for the disposal of their cases at the power sub-stations. As a result, many cases of power thefts are still pending and have reached 27,000 in the last five years.
Recently, 8,000 such cases were disposed of following an agreement between consumers and the power department or on the orders of the court. However, 19,000 cases of power thefts are still pending, and no charge-sheet has been filed in them yet.
Cops at Power Police Station say lack of resources is one big factor for delay in the disposal of power theft cases. SHO of Power Police Station Virendra Yadav said efforts were underway to submit charge-sheets in these cases and dispose of them at the earliest.
