Smart meter installed at Sambhal MP’s home amid row over electricity theft

Amidst heavy security arrangements, smart electricity meter was installed at the residence of Lok Sabha MP from Sambhal Zia Ur Rehman on Tuesday, officials said.

SDO-1 of Sambhal Santosh Tripathi on Tuesday said the team (of electricity department) has gone there to install a smart meter at Rehman’s residence in Deepasarai locality. The earlier meter is being replaced with a smart meter, he said. Tripathi said more meters are being changed in Deepasarai and police have reached there for security arrangements.

Additional Superintendent of Police Shrish Chandra said (smart) meters are being installed in Deepasarai and they have visited the place for security arrangements. Sambhal MP’s father Mamluk Ur Rahman Barq told reporters that the (smart) meter is being installed and there is nothing new in it. He added that the new meter is replacing the old one.

Asked about the discovery of a temple in Khaggu Sarai and the alleged encroachments there, he said there is no truth in it and added that a needle is being made into a shovel (‘sooyi ko phaavda banayaa jaa rahaa hai’).

Tuesday’s development in Sambhal assumes significance in the light of the fact that they come a day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday saying that “mini-power stations” are being operated from religious places in Sambhal.

Speaking in the UP Assembly after the Question Hour, Adityanath (on Monday) had said many mosques were found to be setting up illegal sub-stations inside them and connections were being distributed for free. The line loss of the power corporation in the state is less than 30 per cent but the line loss in Deepasarai and Miyasarai localities of Sambhal is 78 per cent and 82 per cent respectively, he said.

“This is loot of the country’s resources. If the administration is discharging its duty, then it will be called a thief and if the administration catches theft, then it will be said that it is an atrocity,” Adityanath said. The Sambhal administration has reopened a temple locked since 1978 following communal riots in the town.

Officials said the temple, a stone’s throw from the Shahi Jama Masjid, was opened after authorities “stumbled” on it during an anti-encroachment drive. The Bhasma Shankar temple houses an idol of Lord Hanuman and a Shivling.

Some locals claim the temple had been locked since 1978 after the communal riots that led to the displacement of the Hindu community. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vandana Mishra, who led a campaign against electricity theft in the area, had earlier said, “While inspecting the region, we stumbled upon this temple. Upon noticing it, I immediately informed the district authorities.”