Residents attack MGVCL employees

VADODARA: Thirty-eight employees of Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL) were attacked by residents of Chipawad area of Yakutpura when they tried to confiscate illegal electric metres here on Monday. The group was on a routine inspection to check electricity theft in Yakutpura and surrounding areas when the incident happened.
"We found 11 illegal electric metres with 120 connections.During inspection in Chipawad area, we found three illegal meters there. When we tried to remove them, one of the residents instigated others to attack us," said N U Naik, deputy engineer at Mandvi sub division office of MGCVL.
Mohammad Mansuri, a resident of Chabuksawar Mohalla, obstructed the staff and also attacked three MGVCL employees. Security officer Harish Jethi, junior engineer J M Patel and lineman Ramesh Bariya were assaulted by Mansuri.
"Police helped us to recover the electricity meters from Chipawad. We were accompanied by the cops in the second trip," Naik added.
The MGVCL staff comprised eight engineers, 15 security men and 15 line staff. A total of 11 electricity metres with around 120 connections were detected by the team in Yakutpura and surrounding areas. A penalty of Rs 3.60 lakh has been imposed on the persons found involved in the electricity theft. A complaint has also been filed against those who attacked the MGVCL staff at the City police station.