Rs. 17.7m collected from power pirates

Sandasen MARASINGHE

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) earned Rs 17.7 million from illegal power tappers arrested during the month of February.

The flying squad of the Ceylon Electricity Board conducted raids throughout the country and a total of Rs 17,794,706 was collected. Out of that amount a sum of Rs 3,198,500 was paid to courts as fines and the rest as damages to the CEB.

A total of around 290 power piracy incidents were reported, out of which 125 cases were related to tapping transmission lines using hooks and 165 cases were related to manipulation of electricity meters. The Power and Energy Ministry stated that legal action will be taken against the suspects. The Ministry urged the public to report any such fraudulent activity over telephone No. 011-2422259.