Ex-BSES employee conducts fake raids, held

A former BSES employee has been arrested for conducting fake raids on behalf of the power distribution company in east Delhi.

Avinash Singh along with his accomplices targeted customers with pending electricity bills, police said on Thursday.

The gang also accused customers of illegally tampering with the meter and demanded payment as bill for stolen electricity. A ‘bribe’ was sought to settle the matters.

Avinash lived with family in east Delhi’s Kondli. The arrest was made after a call was made to the police control room on Tuesday.

“The call was made by BSES staff regarding a gang conducting fake raids in Farsh Bazar,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Bhairon Singh Gurjar.

Reacting on the complaint, a team from Anand Vihar police station collected information. They came to know that the gang had settled a matter of an electricity bill in Rs 10,000.

“We were also informed that a gang member would come at Cross River Mall in Anand Vihar for collecting the settled money,” Gurjar added.

The team along with a BSES vigilance team laid a trap near the mall and arrested Avinash.
During interrogation, Avinash told police that he and the gang members used to earlier work with BSES on contract basis. “The gang used to target customers and approach them by personating as BSES employees,” Gurjar said.

The gang also used to claim that the meter had been tampered with illegally and the customer would have to pay a heavy fine. They used to remove the meter and claim that the customer would have to make the payment to have the electricity restored.

“They are well aware about the working of BSES and the methods to tamper the electricity meter,” another police officer added.

Avinash’s accomplices are still absconding. The 28-year-old has criminal history and was previously involved in a case with Jaitpur police station.