BENGALURU: Former Congress minister KH Muniyappa’s wife Ranganathamma had to cough up a penalty of Rs 24 lakh after she was booked by Bescom vigilance team for power theft. The case was unearthed by Bescom officials during a routine inspection in August.
Ranganathamma is the owner of a two-storeyed building which has a gym and a restaurant in it, on BEL Road in Sanjaynagar. Bescom gives power through one metre, which is then sub divided by the tenants of a building. But in this case, the metre was not being used at all.
The tenants had been using power directly from the main line for the past 11 months. However, the penalty was levied for 12 months as per Bescom rules, a senior Bescom official said. Ranganathamma paid the amount within a month.