Samajwadi Party’s Sambhal MP Ziaur Rehman Barq was booked by the Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday for allegedly stealing electricity from his residence in Deepa Sarai community, officials said.
While the MP was booked under Section 135 (theft of electricity or unauthorized use of electricity) of the Electricity Act, 2003, police said his father Mamlukur Rehman Barq was also booked for allegedly threatening the electricity department during an inspection of his residence. Government officials were prosecuted.
The FIR, after receiving a complaint from a power department official, said: “While inspecting the electricity meters received from the customers from the power testing laboratory, it was found that there was clear evidence of electricity theft by bypassing the meters and illegal consumption of electricity.”
On Thursday morning, the department inspected the residence of Sambal MP amid tight security.
The MP is one of those booked by the police in connection with the violence that took place on November 24. locals died.
He has filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking stay of arrest and seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him. The congressman was accused of inciting people on November 24, and police said his provocative remarks were the cause of the violence during the investigation.
In the petition, the congressman pleaded not guilty and said he was wrongly involved in the matter. According to his lawyer, he was not present at the place of incident but was named as an accused in the FIR.
Superintendent of Police (Sambhal) Krishna Kumar Bishnoi told reporters that Santosh Tripathi of the electricity department, who is in charge of inspecting the electrical equipment in Deepa Sarai, went to the house of the father of the Samajwadi Party MP at 7.30 am to inspect the electrical equipment there.
“During this period, Mamlukur Rehman Barq abused engineers VK Gangal and Ajay Kumar Sharma, obstructed government work and said ‘the system will change and we will destroy you’. The incident has been videotaped by the power department,” he said.
Bishnoi added: “In accordance with the relevant provisions of the law, the Naqasa police station has filed a case against Mamlukul Rehman Balk and two others – Wasim and Salman.”
Vinod Kumar, superintendent engineer, Sambhar Electricity Department, said the MP’s house has two power sources of 2 kilowatt each. One is his name and the other is the name of his deceased grandfather.
“Two days ago, we installed a smart meter at his house. In the past six months, the meter showed zero unit electricity consumption. When I checked today, I found that his house had a load of 16.48 kilowatts. At that time, both of his meters showed normal.
“During today’s inspection, engineers Ajay Sharma and VK Gangal claimed that they were threatened by the MP’s father. A police complaint has also been lodged in this regard,” he added.
In the morning, the power department deployed tight security in the area and inspected the residence of the Sambal MP.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Shirish Chandra told reporters: “The power department requested police support to conduct safe and smooth inspections in Deepa Sarai area.”
When asked about the specific inspection location, he said: “This is the official residence of the MP, and the electricity department is conducting inspections there.”
Advocate Qasim Gamal, representing the councilors, clarified their position, saying: “The residence has two 4-kilowatt connections, a 10-kilowatt solar panel and a 5-kilowatt generator.
The facility includes two air conditioners, six or seven ceiling fans, a refrigerator and lights. The expense is small as there are only four family members here: the councilman, his wife, his mother and his father.
Regarding the massive security deployment, including police, PAC and Rapid Action Force personnel, deployed in the vicinity, the advocate said it was “an attempt to tarnish the image of the family”.