Of the 1,000-odd police quarters and houses occupied by Rajkot city police, more than 576 quarters have disconnected their electricity meters, while 200 quarters have not cleared bills since the last five years.

Police high-handedness is not unheard of. But in Rajkot, they stretch it a bit too far -- they don't pay electricity bills and threaten GEB staff. According to deputy superintendent of accounts, revenue section, GEB, R Sampat, the total arrears due from quarters and houses occupied by policemen is more than Rs 68 lakhs.

According to sources in the bill collection and revenue departments of the GEB, of the 1,000-odd quarters allotted to policemen in Ramnathpara police lines, Bedi Naka, Shroff Road, Government quarters, Pradumannagar police lines and headquarter police lines, only 400 families regularly pay the bills. ``The rest have a long list of pending arrears or simply don't bother to pay at all.''

``Approximately 20 per cent police quarters have arrears upto Rs 20,000. There are also some quarters in Ramnathpara police lines where unpaid bills run into Rs 42,648 and Rs 52,209. But they are unwilling to pay. We cannot cut their connections because when our staff members go there, they are either roughed up or threatened,'' says a technical engineer of Ramnathpara sub-division.

``Yes, linemen and meter readers are often beaten up by policemen when they go to check meters in the policelines,'' agrees Muradbhai, a lineman who has been with Rajkot GEB since the last 24 years.

In fact, when the issue was brought to the attention of Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha, he intitated the `No Dues Certificate' for all policemen who are retiring, failing which their pensions will be blocked. ``The No Dues Certificate will be issued by the GEB after the occupant of the quarter has paid up all electricity bill dues. I have made it compulsory that unless they furnish this certificate, their pensions will not be cleared,'' Sinha told Express Newsline.

``I understand a lot of arrears have accumulated over the years. The negligence has been on the part of both the police department as well as the GEB which failed to recover dues in time,'' the police commissioner said.

According to sources in the police headquarters, arrears of police quarters have accumulated over the last five or six years as those who were vacating them did not pay their bills. As a result, the incumbent was burdened with inflated bills in his name, which included the former occupant's unpaid bills.

The GEB charges two per cent per month penalty interest on all unpaid bills which amounts to 24 per cent per annum, and though the actual amount may be less, the total ends up being more when the interest is added up.

According to Sinha, the police department has warned all policemen to clear the dues or face internal inquiries. At a recent meeting between the police commissioner and GEB engineers, Sinha suggested that whenever occupants change, the GEB should take fresh meter readings and bill the new occupants for that only. ``We have even suggested that we will furnish the address of the old occupants so that the GEB can collect the dues instead of burdening the new occupant with bills for which he is not responsible,'' Sinha said.