Sesco technicians replacing the meter, witnessed by inspectors from the EIU and the police.
KUCHING: Sibu Police conducted a successful joint operation with Syarikat Sesco Bhd (Sesco) after they received a complaint on suspected power theft at a house at Jalan Nibong, Sibu, which was also suspected of keeping stolen goods.
A statement from Sesco yesterday said the operation was led by police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) unit, auxiliary police and nine Sesco technicians along with two inspectors from the Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) of the Ministry of Public Utilities.
The tip-off from the public also mentioned that the said house was being used to carry out meter tampering activities and to store meters used by service runners who offered power theft services.
Prior to the joint operation, the authorities carried out surveillance on the house to ascertain its activities and a warrant was also obtained from the local magistrate.
One of the CID officers proceeding to cut the padlock to gain access to the house.
As no occupants were present during the raid, a CID officer proceeded to cut the padlock of the door grill to enter the house as it was locked.
Police thoroughly inspected every room in search of stolen goods while Sesco meter inspection teams inspected the electricity meter and confirmed that it was tampered with. It was then replaced and seized.
A police report has also been lodged for further investigation.
Meanwhile, a Sesco spokesperson reminded the public not to trust any service providers who offered meter tampering services.
“Once caught, the customers, not the service providers, will be the ones who face the consequences, including legal action,” he said.
According to him, Sesco had received a lot of information from customers who were caught tampering with the meters.
“These customers revealed that they felt cheated because they had to pay large amounts of money to these ‘service providers’ who promised that Sesco will not be able to detect the meter tampering,” he said, adding that these details had been handed over to the police for further investigation.
He urged those who have any information on suspected power theft service providers to contact Sesco’s hotline at 082-443535. All information is kept strictly confidential.