In its quest to eliminate the incidences of gas theft, Sui Southern Gas Company has been aggressively pursuing its Counter Gas Theft Operations (CGTO) in its franchise provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. In an intensive anti-gas theft joint crackdown in Karachi’s Shah Latif Town, Malir, SSGC’s CGTO, along with Distribution East, Customer Relations Department (CRD), and SSGC Police, disconnected 2,050 illegal gas connections and registered FIRs against six (06) persons belonging to a gas theft mafia. Hundreds of meters of illegally connected pipes were excavated that were taken into custody by the raiding team along with valves and other allied material that was being used for gas theft. The theft claims are being evaluated accordingly.
These disconnections were made in three phases. In the first phase, 450 households were disconnected in Yar Mohammed Goth Phase 2, which also included Madina Colony and Khyber City. FIR was registered against two culprits, Ghulam Murtaza and Mohammad Naeem, who belong to the gas theft mafia.
In the second phase, 1,000 disconnections were made in Samoo Goth, where FIR was registered against two culprits, Imran Khan, and Mohammad Ashraf. In the third phase, a further 600 illegal connections were removed from Samar Garden, which also included New Chiragh Colony, where an FIR was registered against two culprits, Shahid Ali and Faisal.
Speaking to the media persons on the occasion, SSGC’s Spokesperson Salman Ahmed Siddiqui informed that a network of gas theft mafia has been aggressively active in providing illegal gas connections in Shah Latif Town for quite some time, and the company has been taking continuous actions against them. He informed that this grand operation was conducted based on an intelligence report that revealed the mafia had illegally connected a 2” pipeline to SSGC’s 20” main pipeline, which supplies gas to the Korangi and Landhi Industrial Areas, in the vicinity of Sheedi Goth. He also informed that senior officials of CGTO are directly monitoring this grand operation from their control room in the head office.
He stated that SSGC is aggressively pursuing its zero-tolerance policy against gas theft and, regularly, takes belligerent steps in gas theft-infested areas in complete coordination with local police, remaining committed to eliminating gas theft by holding offenders accountable. As a result of these anti-gas theft activities, complaints of low pressure from customers have decreased. To uproot this evil from society, he also requested that people come forward and report incidents of gas theft in their communities, which can also be dangerous, as gas, being a highly volatile commodity, is prone to fire upon mishandling.
