Rati Agnihotri and her husband Anil Virwani have been served with a bill of Rs 48 lakhs by the Brihanmumbai Electricity and Transport Department (BEST) for tampering with their flat’s electricity meter. A surprise raid was conducted at their Worli sea face penthouse when sub-divisional vigilance officer Balasaheb Anand Kamble found out about the tampered meter which the couple had been tinkering with since 2013.
An FIR was lodged against the couple in the Worli police station stating that they had stolen around 1,77,647 units of electricity since April 2013. Hanumant Gofane, BEST spokesperson said, “Our vigilance officers carried out a surprise raid and in it, we found that the meter tampered. We calculated the total value of electricity stolen by the family and have billed them around Rs 48,96,000 and have also registered an offence under Section 135 (theft of electricity) of the Indian Electricity Act, 2003.”
While Rati was unavailable for comment, her husband called the whole thing a ‘misunderstanding’ and said, “Neither me nor Rati nor my son Tanuj is in Mumbai right now. I was shocked when I learnt about the matter this afternoon. There has been some misunderstanding and I will address the issue when I return to the city. We have been living in this apartment building for nine or ten years and nothing of this sort has happened before. I am saddened that I was not given a chance to explain. The officials arrived and said they wanted to see the house so I called two of my staff members and allowed them in. I am completely taken by surprise."
However, BEST chief vigilance officer R J Singh said, “We will not spare anyone if we come across meter tampering or pilferage directly from the mains."
