Bengaluru: A day After former chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy was accused of power theft, posters reading ‘Electricity Thief’ sprung up outside the JD(S) state office in Bengaluru late Tuesday night, which the police later removed.
An FIR was registered against Kumaraswamy, who was accused of drawing electricity illegally from an electric pole to light up his house in JP Nagar for Deepavali. The FIR was filed following the complaint at the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) vigilance police station at Jayanagar.
The Congress lost no time in highlighting it on social media platforms accusing Kumaraswamy of electricity theft and even posted a video. Following the video and posts, Bescom officials inspected Kumaraswamy’s house and filed a case.
Kumaraswamy, however, did not deny the incident and clarified: “Private decorators were asked to decorate the house with electric lights for Deepavali. They drew electricity from a nearby pole and tested it,” Kumaraswamy posted on X. He said he was not at home when the incident took place. “I got to know about it when I returned home at night and immediately got the wires disconnected from the pole and connected them to the meter board of my house. I have nothing to hide,” he stated.
Kumaraswamy even apologised for the incident and said he was willing to pay the fine.
Meanwhile, holding the Congress responsible for the posters outside the JD(S) state office, Kumaraswamy said the party was playing up the issue for the sake of publicity. “This is what @INCKarnataka is doing to get publicity. I am concerned about the petty mentality of that party. Even after clarifying on the issue, the crookedness of the Congress has reached extremes,” he stated on X.
Taunting DyCM D K Shivakumar over his stay in Tihar Jail, Kumaraswamy said, “ED, IT or CBI are not behind me. I’m not scared of anybody.”
Reacting to the incident, Shivakumar said, “About the power theft, he (Kumaraswamy) has accepted it, which is a good thing about him. But I know nothing about Bescom filing a complaint against him. However, I came to know from the media that he has agreed to pay the fine.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “If any authority files an FIR against anyone, then it means that some offence must have taken place. After committing an offence, if anyone repents, will anyone accept it?”