LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) uncovered a sophisticated electricity theft operation involving the use of remote-control devices to manipulate electricity meters.
According to the LESCO officials, the operation was carried out in the Sui Gas Road area of Shahdara under the supervision of Northern Circle Superintending Engineer Muhammad Muzammil. A joint team comprising the Jia Musa Sub-Division surveillance team, the M&T team, and local police inspected an industrial electricity connection during the raid.
During the inspection, authorities discovered that suspects Hamid Raza and Ramzan were allegedly using remote-control devices to manipulate electricity meters and illegally consume power. Officials estimated that the illegal activity caused losses of approximately Rs6.5 million to the utility company. Both the suspects were arrested on the spot, and legal proceedings initiated against them. The authorities also confiscated cables, electricity meters, and a transformer from the site.
Meanwhile, the LESCO’s eastern circle team conducted separate operations in various areas and detected additional cases of electricity theft involving industrial connections, tube wells, and fake meters.
In another raid, the Shalimar Division checking team, accompanied by the SDO of Sahafi Colony, carried out inspections in areas falling under the Sahafi Colony sub-division. During the operation, officials caught a hanger manufacturing factory in Tuls Pura stealing electricity through a direct supply connection. The illegal connection was immediately disconnected, and a detection bill was issued to the consumer. During the same campaign, officials also discovered a fake meter operating on a 12.5-ampere load in a private housing society. In another case, direct electricity theft involving a 9.3-ampere load was also detected.
Additionally, a tube well equipped with a 25 KVA transformer was found to be operating beyond its approved load capacity. Authorities revealed that direct supply connections with running loads of 32, 30, and 31 amperes were being used illegally at the site. The LESCO teams disconnected all illegal power supplies on the spot and issued detection bills in accordance with regulations.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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