Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq was booked by the police for allegedly stealing electricity. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal parliamentary seat Zia-ur Rehman Barq was on Thursday booked by the police for allegedly stealing electricity and consuming unauthorised power at his residence in Deepa Sarai locality of the district in Uttar Pradesh.
“A case of power theft is registered against the local MP Zia-ur Rehman Barq on the petition of the electricity department officials on Thursday morning. The complaint was registered after the electricity department conducted an inspection at his (Mr. Barq’s) house,” said Sambhal Superintendent of Police K.K. Bishnoi. Heavy police force was present with the electricity department officials during the inspection.
Sub-divisional officer (SDO) of electricity department, Santosh Tripathi, and assistant engineer (meter) Ashish Kataria, alleged that the local MP’s 2 kilowatt (kW) connection was illegally bypassed, with unauthorised consumption of 16.48 kW of electricity going on. The electricity department officials charged the accused under Section 135 of the Indian Electricity Act (Amendment) 2003.
The inspection was part of an ongoing drive against power theft in Sambhal with the electricity department conducting inspections in predominantly Muslim localities since December 13. The department said it registered over 200 cases of electricity theft in the drive.
Sambhal, a town in western U.P., remained on edge for days last month after five Muslim youths were killed as locals clashed with State police over the survey of Shahi Jama Masjid. Though the police denied allegations of firing at the protesters, people accused the police of firing. After the clashes, the administration intensified the anti-encroachment and electricity drive.
Published – December 20, 2024 04:24 am IST
