Ten senior officials at Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) have been dismissed due to their involvement in significant corruption. These terminated officers comprise nine Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs) and one Executive Engineer (XEN). One of the SDOs was found to have filed false FIRs against consumers and levied unauthorized detection bills for personal gain.
Additionally, 17 other officials received substantial fines from the company. According to LESCO’s Director of Customer Service, Rai Muhammad Asghar, such rigorous disciplinary actions against numerous officers are unprecedented in the company’s history. He emphasized that actions against LESCO officers will continue alongside the ongoing crackdown on power theft.
Also Read: IESCO Confirms: No Power Load Management in Progress
Documents have revealed that SDO Usman Ghani of Kot Khawaja Saeed was investigated in four different cases, which included illegal FIR registration, fraudulent detection billing, aiding power theft, and assisting defaulters by unlawfully restoring their power supply and intentionally delaying bills.
The investigation also found SDO Habibur Rehman from Safdarabad involved in facilitating power theft, and SDO Phoolnagar was implicated in billing fraud. Other officers terminated from service include Bilal Ganj SDO Ehsanullah Farooqi, Allama Iqbal Town SDO Tanveer Khan, Mehmood Booti SDO Sirajuddin Kakar, Kahna SDO Amir Aziz, Ali Razabad SDO Nadeem Akhtar, Qila Sattar Shah SDO Mehboob Alam, and Kasur Rural Division Executive Engineer Imdad Ali Naich. These officers were engaged in various illegal activities such as installing unauthorized connections, accepting bribes, overbilling consumers, and more.
Furthermore, several officers received substantial fines for overbilling, poor performance, and other offenses. LESCO’s CEO, Shahid Haidar, revealed that ongoing investigations against other officers may lead to their dismissal or severe penalties.