BSES says its teams facing attacks by residents during raids

Power discom BSES has claimed its teams inspecting high-theft areas in Delhi are coming under increasing number of attacks by residents, and said they have become a "major job hazard" for its staff.

Last week two such attacks were reported from Najafgarh and Yamuna Vihar. A staff member's eardrum was damaged in a violent attack by locals resisting a raid by a team in Yamuna Vihar, said a BSES spokesperson.

In Kharkhari village of Najafgarh, where losses due to power theft are as high as 60 per cent, a team, which included women members, came under attack by a group of people last week, he said.

Another team was "brutally manhandled" in Chouhan Banger of Yamuna Vihar, where power theft accounted for 40 per cent losses, in which one person sustained internal ear injury, he said.

Two persons were arrested in connection with the incident.

"Attack on BSES inspection teams by power-thieves and miscreants is a major job hazard that discom officials face," he said.

Abhimanyu Singh, a 32-year-old BSES engineer, died in July last year when his car hit a tree after being chased by locals during a raid in Jafarpur Kalan in southwest Delhi.

The BSES spokesperson said a "habitual offender" has been caught by police in connection with power theft.

The accused, Makhdoom, was arrested after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him by a special electricity court, he said.