<p>A gang of former BSES employees has been conducting raids in the capital claiming to be on behalf of the Reliance-owned power discom. One of at least seven members of the gang has been arrested, police said on Saturday.</p>.<p>The gang accuses customers of illegally tampering with the meter and demands a payment of Rs 5 lakh as the bill for stolen electricity.<br /><br />A bribe of Rs 1 lakh is later sought to settle the matter. On Friday, one of the accused identified as 33-year-old Manoj Kumar Pandey, a resident of south Delhi’s Mehrauli, was arrested.<br /><br />During interrogation, Manoj told police that initially, one or two persons used to visit the house for meter-checking on routine basis by BSES. <br /><br />“They would tamper the meter during checking. Later, they would return to the house in a group of five-seven persons after two-three days,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.<br />The gang used to claim that the meter had been tampered with illegally and the customer would have to pay a heavy fine.<br /><br />They used to remove the meter and claim that the customer would have to make the payment to have the electricity restored. The matter is finally settled for lesser amounts.<br />Manoj has also revealed that he and the gang members used to earlier work with BSES on contract basis.<br /><br />“They are well aware about the working of BSES and on the methods to tamper the electricity meter,” Yadav added.<br /><br />The gang was busted on probe after a complaint was filed by Sharmila Sharma, a resident of south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.<br /><br />She told police that seven men had visited her house on May 18 claiming to be BSES employees.<br />“Sharmila was told that BSES had received a complaint regarding the tampering of electricity meter at the house. They opened the meter and conducted extensive checking,” Yadav said.<br /><br />After checking the meter, they alleged tampering and told Sharmila that she will get a power theft bill of Rs 5 lakh. When Sharmila refused to pay, she was made to talk on the phone with a “senior officer”.<br /><br />Electricity was cut and would not have been restored without payment.<br />The man on the phone claimed that he would close the matter if she paid Rs 1 lakh. Sharmila paid Rs 40,000.<br /><br />The men had said they would restore the electricity after two days. When they did not return, Sharmila went to the BSES office and realised that she had been cheated.</p>
<p>A gang of former BSES employees has been conducting raids in the capital claiming to be on behalf of the Reliance-owned power discom. One of at least seven members of the gang has been arrested, police said on Saturday.</p>.<p>The gang accuses customers of illegally tampering with the meter and demands a payment of Rs 5 lakh as the bill for stolen electricity.<br /><br />A bribe of Rs 1 lakh is later sought to settle the matter. On Friday, one of the accused identified as 33-year-old Manoj Kumar Pandey, a resident of south Delhi’s Mehrauli, was arrested.<br /><br />During interrogation, Manoj told police that initially, one or two persons used to visit the house for meter-checking on routine basis by BSES. <br /><br />“They would tamper the meter during checking. Later, they would return to the house in a group of five-seven persons after two-three days,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.<br />The gang used to claim that the meter had been tampered with illegally and the customer would have to pay a heavy fine.<br /><br />They used to remove the meter and claim that the customer would have to make the payment to have the electricity restored. The matter is finally settled for lesser amounts.<br />Manoj has also revealed that he and the gang members used to earlier work with BSES on contract basis.<br /><br />“They are well aware about the working of BSES and on the methods to tamper the electricity meter,” Yadav added.<br /><br />The gang was busted on probe after a complaint was filed by Sharmila Sharma, a resident of south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.<br /><br />She told police that seven men had visited her house on May 18 claiming to be BSES employees.<br />“Sharmila was told that BSES had received a complaint regarding the tampering of electricity meter at the house. They opened the meter and conducted extensive checking,” Yadav said.<br /><br />After checking the meter, they alleged tampering and told Sharmila that she will get a power theft bill of Rs 5 lakh. When Sharmila refused to pay, she was made to talk on the phone with a “senior officer”.<br /><br />Electricity was cut and would not have been restored without payment.<br />The man on the phone claimed that he would close the matter if she paid Rs 1 lakh. Sharmila paid Rs 40,000.<br /><br />The men had said they would restore the electricity after two days. When they did not return, Sharmila went to the BSES office and realised that she had been cheated.</p>
