Two brothers have been charged with a criminal offense for purportedly engaging in electricity theft exceeding Rs 16 lakh in value in Taloja, Navi Mumbai, dating back to 2017, according to an official statement on Thursday.
The power theft came to light after a flying squad of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) conducted an inspection and found that the electricity meters at two premises owned by the duo were tampered with, he said.
During the inspection conducted on September 27, the MSEDCL found that 76,944 units of power worth Rs 16,17,160 had been stolen by the accused, identified as Vinod Keni and Raju Keni, starting May 2017, the official of Taloja police station said. The accused are developers by profession, the police said.
During the operation, the MSEDCL squad detected power meters of the two premises owned by the duo in Taloja, including a gym, were tampered with to reduce the amount of energy consumption recorded, which resulted in the company suffering losses, they said.