Man who killed MSEDCL staff used to daily record power consumption

According to the authorities, Pote lived with his mother, father and grandmother. His father is working as a driver and mother a homemaker

The 26-year-old man arrested for the murder of a senior technician of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) used to keep record of daily power consumption, said police officials.

Being jobless, he was struggling to get married and financial situation was bad. His daily routine included noting down usage of electrical appliances at his home and units consumed. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The accused Abhijit Pote was matriculate and unemployed.

Police inspector Nagnath Patil said, “He was in the habit of maintaining a diary and list the duration electrical appliances ran at his home and knew the charges. So, receiving the bill which he found inflated may have made him angry leading to heated argument and the murder of the power utility staff.”

According to the authorities, Pote lived with his mother, father and grandmother. His father is working as a driver and mother a homemaker. Being jobless, he was struggling to get married and financial situation was bad. His daily routine included noting down usage of electrical appliances at his home and units consumed. Besides telling family members to reduce power usage, he used to switch off appliances for a few days to check the impact on power consumption. Hence, he had a general idea on power bill.

However, the March electricity bill of ₹570 left him outraged.

He approached the MSEDCL office in Moregaon, but the staff could not give him a satisfactory reply.

According to the police, Pote was attended by Rinku Bansode-Thite when he visited the office again at around 11.30 am on Wednesday. As Rinku was requesting the accused to meet her senior officials who will address the issue, in a fit of rage, Pote attacked her with koyta at least 16 times.

The power utility official died of the wounds at a private hospital in Pune at around 3 pm. The accused was arrested from his home.

Pote confessed to the police that he did not wish to kill the staff but did it in a fit of rage.

Police officials said Pote had received a power bill of ₹570 as he had consumed 63 units. He had visited the MSEDCL office as his last 12-month average power consumption was between 40-70 units with no dues.

The power utility officials said that Pote’s power consumption might have increased due to the summer season and the new tariff. He had not registered a complaint about the inflated bill.