Jamshedpur, Nov. 23: Sixteen people were arrested on charges of illegal tapping of electricity in Mango late last night.

Most of the accused were found guilty of running industrial units with power tapped illegally.

Police have registered a case of theft under sections 39/44 of the Electricity Act on the basis of an FIR lodged by assistant engineer (electrical supply), Jharkhand Sstate Electricty Board (JSEB), Baikunth Rai.

Sources said JSEB officials, led by IAS official Manish Ranjan, conducted a raid on the industrial units and residential complex in Mango for over 10 hours.

The JSEB officials were also carrying the electricty bills of the consumers to show them the pending dues, which was estimated to be Rs 19.24 lakh.

The sources said the consumers had been evading paying bills despite repeated notices by the JSEB. As a result, the power board was forced to snap electricity supply in July.

However, the residential buildings and factories in the area tapped power illegally.

On the basis of a tip off, the JSEB approached the deputy commissioner to provide a magistrate for conducting the raid. Deputy commissioner Nidhi Khare deputed Ranjan for the task.

According to the sources, the raid team nabbed 28 defaulters. Twelve of them evaded arrest by paying the pending dues along with the penalty. The JSEB collected Rs 14 lakh from the 12 people, Rs 7.2 lakh as penalty.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Nidhi Khare described the raid as “a very successful operation” for collecting pending dues and nabbing defaulters. She said the drive would continue.

Bihar killing: The killing of migrant workers from Bihar in Assam has evoked a strong reaction in the capital, reports our Ranchi correspondent.

Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo described the incident as “unfortunate” and said: “The killing of innocent people should not have happened in the first place. This is a very sad incident. People should not kill each other over an issue, which has been blown out of proportion.”