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SSGC detects gas theft at factory

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), in a crackdown, has caught a plastic industry stealing gas through illegal connection.

The SSGC team, under the supervision of a special magistrate, arrested a director of Plasti Crafters and later on release him on bail, an SSGC press release said on Wednesday.

The plastic factory was feeding its unit through a pipeline of one-inch diametre, which it had secretly connected with the SSGC's transmission system. Initial reports said that Plasti Crafters had got its legal supply disconnected on November 27, 1999. The factory is suspected to have utilised stolen gas even before the disconnection, SSGC said. The factory's legal connection was a mere cover, the gas company said.

The officials of SSGC are estimating the real value of the stolen gas and would soon file a claim against the plastic factory to recover the amount.

The SSGC had started its campaign last year against the gas thieves which resulted in the recovery of millions of rupees.

It recovered Rs 5 million from Zaman Textile Mills; Rs 3.6 million from Alamir Paper Mills both of Hyderabad, Rs 3.4 million from G. M. Industries and Rs. 0.8 million from National Threading Company of Karachi. Cumulatively, SSGC has recovered about Rs. 59 million from habitual gas bill evaders.