BENGALURU: Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) officials from Horamavu allegedly extorted Rs 20,000 from an alternative medicine doctor for running a clinic from home.
Assistant Engineer (AE) Veeresh and his associate Subramanian, a meter reader, threatened to terminate the power connection if their demands were not met.
Another meter reader Sudarshan V had collected Rs 20,000 through UPI allegedly on behalf of Subramanian and Veeresh last Friday. The money was supposed to be paid to Subramanian who looks after Kothanur area, the victim, Dr Anush Solomon Joy, said.
“I was threatened with a fine of Rs 1 lakh by Assistant Engineer Veeresh and his colleague Subramanian. I was not prepared to pay the amount, because I knew that I had not violated the law. But when they said they will terminate power supply, I had to succumb to their threat and paid Rs 20,000, followed by Rs 10,000 as a bribe.
They said I should immediately pay Rs 20,000, and I said that I can pay only via UPI. They insisted that the payment should be made on an unknown man’s UPI account. The amount they asked to me pay the next day was another Rs 10,000 in cash. So, the total bribe demanded was Rs 30,000, which was initially Rs 50,000 before bargaining,” said Dr Anush Solomon Joy.
As the matter was discussed with an activist by the victim, he convinced him to go public about it. When The New Indian Express contacted the meter readers, they agreed to have collected the amount, and Subramanian said he did it at the behest of a person linked to an elected representative and said he would return the amount.
The accused persons also returned the money through UPI. Veeresh, when contacted, denied any role and said the meter readers are on contract basis.