Power pirates nabbed

by Rohana Jayalal

The Ceylon Electricity Board's (CEB) Special Investigations Unit nabbed 3199 power pirates who had been using electricity illegally in 2014. the Ministry of Power and Energy sources told the Sunday Observer.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has collected over Rs.212 million (Rs.212, 777,977.03) from the raids conducted island-wide, the Ministry of Power and Energy said. Rs.191 million has been earned from these raids as lost revenue while Rs.21 million has been reclaimed as court costs.

The Special Investigations Unit conducted these raids upon the advice of Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka. A total of 2077 incidents in which the persons have altered electricity meters and 1122 incidents have been recorded using hooks to steal electricity.

The aim of these raids is to prevent illegal electricity consumption in domestic, industry and economic sectors. According to the minister, the CEB has been able to provide electricity to 96 percent of the country.

The minister also said that Illegal power tapping causes damages to the national economy.