The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Lahore authorities are unmoved despite directions from the Apex committee to take action against electricity theft.
Moreover, the agency could not even recover more than Rs5 billion from 100 dead defaulters, let alone action against power theft.
A list of these dead defaulters was provided to the FIA by the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) authorities, and the investigators issued summons notices to them in September. Unfortunately, nobody turned up.
All these defaulters belonged to five circles of LESCO, including Lahore, Sheikhupura, Okara, Nankana Sahib and Kasur.
In just the Sheikhupura circle alone, the recoverable amount is Rs1.89 billion. Interestingly, just one individual in the city is a defaulter of a massive Rs270 million. Moreover, a known political personality running a factory was also said to be involved in power theft.
The top defaulters are the management of Siddique Iron and Rehman Steel Furnace.
It is worth mentioning here that the FIA authorities could arrest only six people other than dead defaulters allegedly involved in electricity theft, and recovered Rs52 million from them in a year.
It merits mentioning here that LESCO’s anti-theft field teams have been active after the directions of the apex committee and showing extraordinary performance. They claim to have unearthed more than 200 cases daily and recovered hundreds of thousands of rupees.
On the other hand, the FIA authorities in Lahore had closed down their circle called Electricity, Gas, and Oil Anti-theft unit, supposed to take action against people involved in power or gas theft.
On being asked, FIA Director Sarfaraz Khan Virk said the unit was not closed, but merged in the Anti-Corruption Circle (ACC).
