Jio representatives booked after illegal road-digging cuts power supply

Representatives of Reliance Jio were booked after a road-digging work undertaken by the company damaged an electric cable and disrupted power supply in southeastern Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Bescom received a series of complaints about sudden power disruption in and around Bellandur in the early hours of Monday. When Bescom officials inspected the area, they found that the main supply power cable was damaged during the digging of the Bellandur service road. The work was carried out by Verix Network on behalf of Jio.

Taking serious note of the matter, Lakshmi Narayana Reddy, an assistant engineer with Bescom, filed a complaint with Bellandur police. Acting on the complaint, police booked one Munindra of Verix Network and unnamed representatives of Jio under IPC sections related to damaging public property and mischief causing damage. Police have summoned Jio representatives for questioning.

The Bescom complaint stated that the repair of the power cable cost Rs 1 lakh and asked the police to make the respondents pay. Reddy, the Bescom assistant engineer, stated that there are clear instructions that a company must hold a series of meetings with officials before digging a public road. In this instance, neither was such meeting held nor any permission taken, he added. Deccan Herald