Mumbai: The city crime branch arrested two persons on Friday for allegedly tampering with electrical meters by installing electronic chips to slow them down. The two accused have been identified as Indreshkumar Mishra, 50, and Irshad Siddiqi, 39.
The Ghatkopar unit of the crime branch received information about a gang which claimed to slow down power meters, a 'service' for which they charged Rs 10,000. Acting on a tip-off, the crime branch and the flying squad of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) laid a trap and called the duo, using a bogus customer.
On Friday, Mishra and Siddiqi came to the residence of this 'customer', broke the seal of the electric meter and installed a chip in it. Before they could even shut the meter box, the team of the crime branch team and the MSEDCL flying squad had nabbed them.
According to the crime branch, the duo had installed an electronic chip, which would control the power meter and thereby ensure a smaller power bill for the user. This remote-controlled chip could be turned off as needed, to avoid arousing suspicion during checks, a crime branch officer explained.
The duo was arrested under section 138 of the Electricity Act and produced in court on Saturday, which remanded them in police custody for five days.
