Enforcement Team Attacked For Detecting Power Theft In Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur; 4 Booked

Jagatsinghpur: Members of an enforcement team electricity supply agency sustained injuries after being allegedly attacked by locals for detecting power theft by a consumer at a village in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district.

As per a complaint lodged by Paradip Electrical Division’s Enforcement Engineer Smruti Ranjan Palei at Kujanga Police Station, the incident took place on October 17 when he along with his team had been to Balisahi village for checking of power theft.

During inspection, the team which included a woman member, found that the meter was tampered and the consumer, identified as Radhi Majhi, was using power unethically. The consumer was booked under Section 135 of Electricity Act for power theft and the verification report was handed over to family members.

When the team members were returning, a group of people including Nibas Majhi, son of power consumer Radhi Majhi, suddenly attacked them and detained their vehicle, the complaint claimed.

Though the team members managed to escape from there, the accused again intercepted their vehicle near a canal on the way and thrashed them using sticks, causing grievous injuries, he alleged.

It was further alleged that the woman member, who is pregnant, was dragged out of the vehicle and beaten up.

Based on the complaint lodged by the Enforcement Engineer, the Kujanga police registered a case and booked Nibas Majhi, Deepak, Gudu, Tribhuban Majhi and others under various sections of Bharatiya Nyana Sanhita and Section 135 of Orissa Electricity Act – 2003, police said.

Investigation is in progress and further details are awaited.