Beware of fake Tangedco employees

Chennai: Ten days after an elderly woman was conned by a man posing as Tangedco employee in the city, the discom has advised consumers to insist on identity cards from those who visit their houses saying they are Tangedco staff.
On Jan 14, a man visited the house of Jayam, 80, a resident of Besant Road in Triplicane, under the pretext of checking the electricity meter. The man insisted on entering the house and left within minutes, saying power phases had to be changed. She later discovered that 15 sovereigns of gold jewellery worth 8.5lakh and 10,000 in the cupboard were missing.
Based on her complaint, police registered a case and arrested 35-year-old P Srinivasan of Tiruvallur district. Thirteen sovereigns of jewellery worth 7.4 lakh and 46,000 in cash were seized from him. Inquiries revealed that he had already stolen 60,000 from a house in Moulivakkam and has a theft case pending against him in Valasaravakkam.
Tangedco has appealed to its consumers not to fall prey to such frauds. "Consumers can always demand that anyone claming to be Tangedco staff show their official identity card. If they seem suspicious, they should call the police control room or Minnagam call centre to verify if someone has been sent from Tangedco," said an official. tnn