2 held for impersonating BSES vigilance officials, cheating customers

Two men were arrested on Wednesday for extracting money from BSES customers by posing as members of the discom's vigilance team, police said.

Brijesh Sharma (30), a resident of Sangam Vihar, and Sanjay Kumar (43), a resident of Tughlakabad Extension, were nabbed from M.B. Road, police said.

According to police, the two had deployed sources to gather information on faulty meters. They would visit residential and commercial buildings and check the meters, posing as BSES vigilance officials. They would threaten the customers about real or imaginary fault in their meters to extract money.

Sharma and Kumar would then seize the installed meters and ask customers to pay a hefty fine, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Vijay Kumar said.

Most people want to settle the matter by paying a bribe but some had refused to pay money to the duo. When a customer would refuse to pay, Sharma and Kumar would seize the meter but return it after a few days, the officer said.

Most people did not file police complaints and chose to pay bribe, he said.

But some of the customers filed FIRs about meter theft, the DCP said.

Fake identity cards of BSES, 42 broken seals of electricity meters, one stolen meter, equipment used for breaking the seal and removing meter, documents, three mobile phones, a car and a motorcycle have been seized from them, police said.

Sharma was previously found to be involved in a similar case in R.K. Puram, police said.

They said they are verifying whether the two were involved in other cases too.