PSPCL JE suspended for fraud, misappropriation of funds

Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, February 1

Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has placed under suspension junior engineer (JE) Deepak Kumar, deployed at the Sunder Nagar division, after charges of fraud and misappropriation of funds were established against him in an enquiry conducted on the orders of Chief Engineer (Central Zone).

According to report of an enquiry conducted by Gurkirpal Singh Randhawa, Aditional Superintending Engineer (Technical), Suburban Circle, the allegations levelled by a consumer Manjit Kaur, a resident of Bank Colony, that the suspect Deepak Kumar had rejected an application for a commercial connection after she refused to pay a bribe of Rs 10,000, were found to be correct.

Further, a probe was conducted into allegations levelled by the complainant that the said JE was providing illegal power connections to certain consumers against gratification and also pocketing energy bills and other charges causing huge financial loss to the PSPCL. On the basis of documents provided during an investigation and statement of consumers concerned, the charges were substantiated beyond any doubt.

The report states that the suspect JE had collected an amount of Rs 2.12 lakh from Mohit Khanna, a consumer, who had applied for a small power (SP) connection on the pretext of old arrears of a disconnected meter, security deposit for new connection, service line and even subsequent energy consumption for a couple of months.

Out of Rs 2.12 lakh, only Rs 1.09 lakh were deposited with the PSPCL while rest of the money was misappropriated by Deepak Kumar, said the report.

The enquiry officer concluded that the allegations of taking bribe, cheating consumers and causing financial loss to the PSPCL were proved against JE Deepak Kumar.

He recommended that strict disciplinary as well as legal action be taken against the suspect and at the same time thorough enquiry be conducted into all energy meters removed for default or otherwise, and reinstalled in the area under the jurisdiction of the said official.

Sources said a chargesheet was being issued to the indicted JE and the PSPCL officials might also lodge a criminal case against him.

What report says

The enquiry report has made a shocking revelation that in some cases the said JE had got installed meters removed from premises of defaulting consumers against permanent disconnection order (PDCO) or for other reasons, which were not returned back to the store, nor were such connections shown anywhere on the record.