RAWALPINDI: Unwary residents of posh localities of the garrison city who fell for ‘quick gas connection’ offers find themselves in trouble after the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) has come up with its own offer.

Dawn has learnt that scores of residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Bahria Town and similar up-class localities who fell victim to conmen’s offers, have been charged by the SNGPL with securing illegal connections and installing stolen gas meters. Some of them have been heavily fined.

Theft of gas meters has been on the rise in Rawalpindi in recent months.

SNGPL sources said that during the last six months 730 domestic consumers reported to the company that their gas meters had been stolen.

It were, however, inquiries from some consumers in posh colonies why they were not getting bills that revealed to the SNGPL that conmen were using the stolen gas meters to provide quick connection to the moneyed needy living in DHA Phases I and II, Bahria Town and other localities for fees ranging from Rs60,000 to Rs100,000.

“Some DHA employee would have been part of the gang offering swift illegal connections,” suspected a SNGPL official.

After disconnecting gas supply, and imposing fines of up to Rs140,000 on the owners of some 70 houses fitted with stolen meters, the SNGPL passed on the case to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which booked them for having stolen meters and using unaccounted for gas (UFG).

But soon the FIA realised that the SNGPL had handed it a hot potato, for many of the owners turned out to be serving or retired air commodores, brigadiers and colonels. It was understandable to them that desperate needs lead to desperate actions.

In order to avoid legal actions, the military officers submitted written statements to the SNGPL authorities, pleaded not guilty.

For instance, Air Commodore Siddique Akbar informed the SNGPL that he paid Rs60,000 for a quick connection but was not aware that the gas meter being installed at his house in DHA Phase II was stolen.

Brigadier Ashfaq, another resident of DHA, narrated the same story, but the gas company fined him Rs140,000 on account of UFG.

Raja Mansoor Nasir told Dawn that soon after he completed constructing his house in DHA Phase II, a shady character offered him a quick gas connection for Rs90,000.

“I ignored his offer because I had direct contacts with some SNGPL officials,” he said, wondering how the conman came to know he was seeking gas connection.

“There must be someone in the DHA administration and SNGPL who leaked the information regarding connection seekers to conmen,” he said.

Javed Iqbal Khan, general manager, SNGPL, Rawalpindi, claimed to Dawn that out-of-turn connections stopped after SNGPL cracked down on the corrupt elements in the company and the mafia active in the sector.

Though admitting that the mafia had moved its operations to other localities in the city, the SNGPL official assured that “stolen meters cannot remain hidden as the monthly meter reading process would reveal them one day”.

His advice to gas connection seekers was “avoid embarrassment and legal action by waiting for your turn rather than pay big money to shady middlemen”.