During day-long raids by the power department authorities, 1,100 cases of industrial power theft were detected in Haryana on Saturday. Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala said on Saturday evening that as many as 236 teams comprising more than 1,000 officers conducted raids to detect power thefts in various industries running in the state since 4.30 am.

“During the raids, more than 1,100 cases of industrial power thefts have been detected,” he said. The department is set to realise a fine of Rs 100 crore with the power thefts which were detected, he added.

The minister said the teams that carried out raids include two directors of the power department, and other senior officers and employees.

Chautala said the raids have been carried out in industries in five big cities, including Gurugram, Dharuhera, Faridabad, Rewari and Hisar, all industrial hubs in the state.

He said large-scale raids have been conducted to catch power theft in the industries.

“Through these raids, the government wants to give a strong message to the people of the state that power thefts will not be tolerated at any cost,” he told reporters here.

The minister said many cases of power thefts through ‘Kundi connections’ (to draw power illegally), irregularities in meter connections, etc. have been reported in the raids.

At some places, some employees were also found hand in glove and strict action would be taken against them, said the minister.

He said more than 3,000 kilowatts of power theft was caught in this raid, which would bring down the line loss.

Reducing line losses will improve power efficiency and consumers will get even cheaper electricity, he said.

“For the first time in the history of Haryana, this kind of big action has been taken to curb power theft. This raid has been conducted based on inputs received by the government so that power theft can be stopped completely,” he said.

He said the government plans to completely curb power thefts and urged that consumers should pay their bills honestly.

“This will increase the revenue of the department and will provide good facilities to consumers,” he said.