Samajwadi Party's Sambhal MP fined Rs 1.91 crore for power theft; officials snap electricity supply to house

Sambhal: The authorities have imposed a fine of Rs 1.91 crore on Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha member from Sambhal, Zia-ur-Rehman Burque, for alleged power theft. A case has also been registered against his father and two others for allegedly threatening power officials.

The authorities, on Friday, also demolished a portion of Burque's house at Deepa Sarai locality in Sambhal as it was found to have been built after encroaching on public land.

According to the sources, the power supply to the MP's house was also disconnected after, allegedly, officials found that the power being used was more than the sanctioned load.

A team of the power department had conducted a raid on Burque's house two days back and claimed to have found unmetered connections. "The electricity bill used to be nil for months," said an official of the power department. "The total electricity bill on two connections at the house for a year was only Rs 14 thousand," the official added.

Sources said that the father of the MP and two others, who were with him, when the power department team had raided his house, had threatened the officials with dire consequences. A case was registered against them in this regard.

On Friday, a team of the district administration demolished the stairs outside the house of the MP after it was found that it had been built on encroached land. The authorities used bulldozers to demolish the stairs.

A large contingent of security forces were deployed around the MP's house when the demolition was undertaken, sources said. ''The demolition was part of the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in the town,'' a senior district official said in Sambhal.

Police personnel stand guard during checking of electricity reading at the residence of Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rehman Barq, in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. Barq was booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday for alleged theft of electricity at his residence in the Deepa Sarai neighbourhood in Sambhal.

"An electricity inspection drive is underway in Sambhal even today. A fine of Rs 1.91 crore has been imposed on the MP by the Electricity department and the power supply to his residence has been disconnected," Sambhal Superintending Engineer Vinod Kumar said.

According to the FIR lodged by the Electricity Department, an inspection team found evidence of electricity theft by bypassing the meter and confirmed illegal power use.

Zia Ur Rehman is among those booked in connection with the November 24 violence in which four locals died in a clash with security personnel during a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in the city's Kot Garvi area.

Superintendent of Police (SP) (Sambhal) Krishna Kumar Bishnoi had earlier told reporters that at 7.30 am on Thursday electricity department's Santosh Tripathi was tasked with checking power equipment in Deepa Sarai area.

During the inspection at the MP's residence, Mamlukur Rehman Barq abused engineers V K Gangal and Ajay Kumar Sharma and obstructed government work, he said.

The SP said Barq told the engineer that "the dispensation will change and we will ruin you". The incident has been video recorded by the electricity department.

"A case has been registered at the Nakhasa police station against Barq and two others — Wasim and Salman — under relevant provisions of the law," Bishnoi added.

Vinod Kumar said the MP's house had two connections of two kilowatts each. One in Zia Ur Rehman's name and another in his late grandfather's name.

Two days ago, smart meters were installed at the MP's residence and in the last six months, the metres showed zero unit consumption, a power department official said.

He added that when the premises were checked on Thursday a 16.48 kilowatt load was found at his place. When both his electricity meters were sent to the lab, it was found in the MRI test that both the meters were tampered with.

During the check today, engineers Ajay Sharma and V K Gangal claimed that they were threatened by the MP's father. A complaint has been lodged with the police in this regard, he said.

(With PTI inputs)