The Abuakwa Divisional Command of the Police has arrested a 31-year-old resident of Sepaase in the Atwima Nwabiagya South municipality of the Ashanti region for allegedly stealing prepaid meters.

Prince Asare was reportedly caught stealing a prepaid meter in Abuakwa Agogo Newsite, a suburb of the municipality, by residents.

He was later handed over to the police for arrest and further investigations.

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is not enthused about the recent rampant meter theft cases in the region.

ECG General Manager for Ashanti West Region, Ing. George Amoah, revealed the office is receiving increasing customer complaints on stolen meters.

“Lately, a lot of customers have thronged our offices to report stolen meters which was an inconvenience to our cherished customers as they had to go through the stress of obtaining a police report and later paying the cost of meter replacement before getting their stolen meters replaced,” he said.

The growing trend is prompting the company to intensify public education in the region while it liaises with the security agencies to clamp down on individuals perpetrating such illegal acts.

“The modus operandi of this individual was that he moved from community to community to steal prepaid meters and in some cases replace these prepaid meters with fake postpaid meters,” Ing. Amoah disclosed.

He further bemoaned the adverse effects of the illegal act which is resulting in power theft as the fake meters installed after stealing consume power without paying for it.

This, he says, is affecting the revenue collection and financial health of the power distributor.

“Replacing the prepaid meters with fake meters for customers affects the revenue activities of ECG as such customers will be consuming power on the blind side of the ECG. The suspect also installed the stolen prepaid meters without the knowledge of ECG for customers not in the our system and this contributes to our losses as customers consume electricity illegally”, he added.

The ECG is urging on the general public to be vigilant and report such individuals to the nearest police station to enable the ECG nip the menace of stolen meters in the bud.

He cautioned that individuals caught in the act of stealing or destroying any installation of the company will be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the suspect has since been detained at the Abuakwa District Police Station as officials prepare to arraign him before court.