Multan police book Javed Hashmi, his 3 sons-in-law for alleged power theft

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>LAHORE: Multan police have booked veteran politician Javed Hashmi and his three sons-in-law in four cases registered over alleged electricity theft, it emerged on Saturday.</p> <p>The four first information reports (FIRs) were lodged at Multan’s Makhdoom Rasheed Police Station on July 17 under Section 462J (interference, improper use or tampering with electric meter by domestic consumer, etc) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).</p> <p>One case each was filed against Hashmi and his sons-in-law Shahid Bahar, Zahid and Shahzeb, against whose names the electricity meters had been registered.</p> <figure class='media w-full sm:w-1/2 media--right media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/1129526'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/1129526" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>According to the FIRs, copies of which are available with <em>Dawn</em>, they were lodged at the complaint of Multan Electric Power Company Limited’s (Mepco’s) Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Mohammad Bilal.</p> <p>The complaints, phrased in a near-identical manner, claimed that Mepco’s team checked the consumer’s site and found that the consumer was “stealing electricity by inserting a loop in the terminal of the company’s power meter”.</p> <p>The four electricity metres, whose numbers were also stated in the FIRs, were seized by Mepco.</p> <p>The FIR against Hashmi said the alleged power theft by him had caused losses worth Rs249,100 to Mepco.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/JavedHashmiJH/status/2078502234145411437'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/JavedHashmiJH/status/2078502234145411437"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>Similarly, other FIRs claimed Mepco had faced losses worth Rs248,400 due to Shahid Bahar’s actions, another Rs245,600 in damages linked to Zahid’s meter, and Rs247,600 of losses due to power theft by Shahzeb.</p> <p>Hashmi’s grandson Qasim confirmed to <em>Dawn</em> that none of the family members had been arrested as yet.</p> <p>In a <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="link--external" href="https://x.com/JavedHashmiJH/status/2078502234145411437">post on X</a> on July 18, Hashmi confirmed that he and his sons-in-law had been booked in cases.</p> <p>“They can arrest me; I would not even seek bail,” he wrote, terming the cases as “allegations”.</p> <p>“I am sitting in my house; come and arrest me. Neither will I hide anywhere nor will I flee anywhere,” he added.</p> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.