The CESC on Monday said power thefts were increasingly becoming difficult to detect, with the culprits adopting innovative techniques.

?Instead of randomly tapping supplylines, the culprits are now employing sophisticated methods,? said Aniruddha Basu, general manager (LT), CESC.

He added: ?The wires used for tapping power are being concealed in such a manner that detection by observation alone has become difficult. Furthermore, the wires, which used to be overhead, now run underground. Not only are we incurring heavy losses, but the people are being exposed to the risk of electrocution.?

Officials said it was almost impossible to detect illegal connections from underground cables without help from police. Last week, the CESC authorities had busted a large-scale ?power-hooking? racket in Narkeldanga.

According to Basu, power tapping costs the CESC around Rs 144 crore every year.

Undetected power theft poses a danger to consumers, too. ?Water coming out of a tap can kill you if it is charged due to a leak from a tapped line. People seem to be unaware of the grave dangers of hooking,? rued the general manager.