Mithila Textiles gas meter tampering, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company people were forced to return under threat if they tried to disconnect the connection. Titas people were detained throughout the day, when the police failed, Titas people were rescued with the help of the army at midnight.
The factory is located in the Dhupatara area on Kalibari Road in Arai Hazar Upazila of Narayanganj. The owner of the influential company, Azahar Khan, has been committing misdeeds for a long time, sometimes by threatening and sometimes by managing. Former Chhatra League leader Nazrul Islam Babu, a former MP from that constituency, has become reckless.
Shahnewaz Parvez, Managing Director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, told Barta24.com that he went to the place on October 24 at noon and found evidence of meter tampering, and later checked the data on the computer and found evidence of interference in the meter there too. The meter was checked in front of the people of Mithila Group and shown to them that the seal was broken, the screw was opened. The data is recorded where it was tampered with and when and where. They were also shown that.
He said, in such cases, the rule is to disconnect the connection and open the meter. Later, when the company people went to cut the line, they stopped it. They detained our people, threatened to kill them. People gathered and stopped our people.
Later, even though the police went, they returned. Our people were rescued at night with the help of the army. Even though the army went, they stopped the meter from being opened. It has been decided to open that meter with another meter on Saturday and Sunday, he said.
He said, we have information that the people of that very influential company have been influencing and committing irregularities in various ways in the past. Although there were many attempts to conduct raids during the previous government, it was not possible due to various pressures.
Another Titas Gas official said on condition of anonymity that whenever there was an attempt to conduct raids at his factory in the past, the Prime Minister's Office himself would call. The then Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, Tofazzal Hossain, himself called and ordered them to refrain from conducting operations. Many times, the team had to return from Mithila Textiles located in Araihajar to conduct operations. They were never allowed to enter the factory.
Yesterday (October 24), they threatened to kill our people. They said that if the line is cut, no one will be able to return with their lives.
Despite the change in the Awami League, the violence of Mithila Group Chairman Azahar Khan has not decreased. Titas Gas believes that the group has embezzled hundreds of crores of taka by tampering with meters.
In response to a question, the Managing Director of Titas Gas said, "Every time we are going to cut the line due to irregularities, various obstacles and threats are coming. They want to use that as a shield that the factory will be closed, the workers will be unemployed.
We told them, keep the arrears and use the gas as approved, then you are doing the work knowingly. You should have known about it then, if caught, the line will be cut. You will be fined." Now why are you saying, I also feel sorry for the workers to be unemployed. But we cannot encourage theft.
After the interim government came to power, Shahnewaz Parvez took charge of Titas Gas. He has been able to break all past records in disconnecting illegal connections. In the last one and a half months, he has disconnected 78 illegal industrial connections. About Tk. 4 crore of gas was being stolen through those connections per month. In addition, he has disconnected 5,170 residential connections and 46 commercial connections. About 41 lakh 37 thousand cubic feet of gas was being stolen through these connections daily.
Before the current managing director took charge, only 74 illegal industrial connections were disconnected in the first 9 months of this year. Shahnewaz Parvez has set a record by disconnecting 71 illegal connections within one and a half months of taking charge. This has spread panic among illegal gas users and Titas officials and employees involved with them.
Petrobangla Chairman Janendra Nath Sarkar said, according to one estimate, we have seen about 200 million cubic feet of gas being stolen daily. We are trying our best. The public should come forward so that these thefts can be stopped. If we can stop the theft and give those 200 million to legitimate customers, they will be able to do better business. The state will benefit.
In response to a question, he said, the campaign has been intensified, as you can see. The message from the Energy Adviser is that the identity of the person using the illegal connection will not be considered. As soon as we receive news of illegal use, the campaign and action will be taken against those involved.