PESHAWAR: At least 156 people were arrested in different areas of Peshawar on charges of electricity theft, ARY News reported.

The city administration also disconnected 944 illegal connections and issued notices to some people involved in the wrongdoing.

According to officials, the administration recovered Rs 30 million from defaulters. While more than 40 transformers were removed from areas where residents had not paid dues.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had established a Reporting Centre at the Energy and Power Department for effective supervision and monitoring of the nationwide campaign against power theft in the province.

“We have set up a Reporting Centre equipped with all latest facilities at Energy and Power Department in Civil Secretariat in Peshawar to monitor and supervise the ongoing crackdown against power theft in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” according to officials.

On October 22, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed for immediate steps to curtail electricity prices and reduce additional burden on consumers due to pilferage and other damages in the power sector.

It was decided to launch a crackdown on power thieves. A special task force has been set up under chief minister Punjab to stop the power theft and deputy commissioners at the district level will oversee the crackdown against power theft.

PM Imran directed the power division to present a detailed plan for ensuring the availability of quality transformers.

Minister for Power Division Omer Ayub Khan had also directed the six power distribution companies to ensure 100 percent recovery of current electricity billing amounting to over 83 billion rupees for betterment of liquidity of power sector.

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