Electrician pays for cutting off Indian chief minister

MUMBAI, Saturday (AFP)

An engineer has been suspended from work for cutting power to the official residence of the leader of India's wealthiest state because of unpaid electricity bills, reports said Friday.

A media scrum gathered as wires were snipped Monday at a government home of chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh during a drive against top defaulters in the western state of Maharashtra.

Electricity officials cut the power to the servant's quarters at the residence in Nagpur because of two unpaid bills totalling 120,000 rupees (2,600 dollars), according to the Press Trust of India.

But retribution was swift for superintendent engineer L M Borikar, who was suspended Thursday - sparking union leaders to vow protests on his behalf, according to media reports.

The political storm caused by the disconnections forced the electricity company to halt its drive against non-payers, PTI said.

"What was the propriety of disconnecting power supply ... in full media glare?" state revenue minister Naryan Rane told reporters.

"It was not proper on the part of officials of the power distribution company," he said.

The chief engineer for the state's electricity distributors in Nagpur confirmed the suspension but declined to comment further.

The state's wealth is driven by Mumbai, the financial, business and entertainment centre of India, which supplies two-fifths of the country's tax revenues.