The city police in the past week have registered at least 27 FIRs in connection with power theft, officers said.
CESC officials said 11 persons have been arrested since May 14 based on complaints lodged by the power utility.
“We have lodged 27 cases with the police for electricity theft since last Sunday. Till now, 11 persons have been arrested,” a senior CESC official said on Tuesday.
Calcutta police and CESC have conducted 38 raids in the last seven days, officials said.
Sources in the police said raids were conducted mostly in the area under the port division.
“Many people feel it is not an offence to tamper with the electricity meter and arrange for multiple connections from it,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
The ongoing drive against power theft started after an elderly woman and her daughter died, possibly after being electrocuted, in Ekbalpore on May 14. Residents of the locality had told the police that the two collapsed after trying to help a family member who got electric shock while hanging clothes out to dry on an iron wire.
Rampant power theft in the locality is believed to have caused the electrocution.
The police said tampering with an electrical meter and drawing power illegally are punishable under Sections 135 and 138 of the Electricity Act. A conviction under these sections attracts a maximum punishment of three years in jail.
If a person while being involved in power theft damages any feeder box or public or private property, he or she can be charged under Section 9 of the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1972.
A conviction under this section carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail.
