Gas, power: Crackdown against thieves underway

BAHAWALPUR: An indiscriminate operation is underway against electricity and gas thieves, District Coordination Officer Imran Sikandar Baloch said on Friday. He was speaking at a meeting at his office. The DCO said that strict action would be taken against those found stealing electricity and gas. He directed the assistant commissioners concerned to constitute teams to check the commercial, industrial and semi-industrial installations and present their reports. The DCO also directed the intelligence agencies to exchange information with related departments so that theft could be prevented. The DCO said those involved in gas and electricity theft had “their people” in the government departments and that was why officials and private contractors should be included in the operation. He said those who stole electricity and gas were stealing national resources. They, he said, were not only criminals of a related department, but of the entire nation. The DCO was told that seven people had been arrested for stealing electricity.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.