NEW DELHI: In major raids over the past week, power distribution company BSES claims to have detected cases of power theft amounting to over 1,100 KW at 24 industrial and commercial units which included a petrol pump and CNG filling station and a leprosy home. In all, the offending units now face penalties totalling Rs 3.8 crores.

The discom said its enforcement teams along with personnel from the Delhi police unearthed power theft of over 1,100 KW. A major and surprising catch was Aman Filling Point in East Delhi. BSES charged that the fuel pump had deliberately slowed its meter by around 60 per cent.

"The electricity that was used to run a 75 HP CNG compressor was clocking an average of only 7,000 units per month as opposed to around 20,000 units recorded at other CNG stations using similar compressors," said a BSES official. It has been booked for dishonest abstraction of energy. A Kushth Ashram in East Delhi was for the third time in less than three months booked for power theft. As against 10 units operating illegally from the premises last time, the raiding teams last week allegedly found 21 factories involved in PVC extruder works, PVC moulding, zinc enamelling and zinc electroplating operating from there and stealing electricity worth a whopping 811 KW by hooking directly from the nearby BSES LV mains.

Apart from these two important spots, the enforcement teams also caught two industrial units in Anand Parbat allegedly stealing electricity with "deliberately" burnt meters. BSES said the industrial units in the busy Anand Parbat Industrial Area were stealing over 200 KW of power.

Both the iron factory, owned by one Bishan Dass, and an auto parts manufacturing unit -- Apollo Rolling Engineering Work -- were found with burnt meters. They were charged with stealing 166 KW and 36 KW respectively.

The power company said investigations revealed that both the meters had tell-tale signs which clearly pointed to their having been tampered earlier.

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