Ahmedabad: A man allegedly used forged signatures and PAN cards of five residents of a Thaltej housing society to apply for permanent disconnection of their electricity meters. The matter came to light when a power company team arrived to disconnect the lines.Atul Bhavsar (62), retired group director of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), on Saturday filed a complaint with Vastrapur police. He was among those whose connections were to be cut. Bhavsar told police he has lived in Ahmedabad since joining Isro in 1987. Bhavsar, who retired in 2023, had bought the flat in Swapna Apartment in Thaltej in 1990. His family lived there till 2006. It is currently occupied by the woman who looked after his parents.On Aug 12, a society resident told him that a Torrent Power team had arrived to disconnect lines of several houses in the building. Bhavsar learnt that applications had been submitted to permanently remove meters registered in the names of five residents.On Aug 14, the residents visited a Torrent Power office and sought details of the applications. They allegedly found that the online requests, submitted through a licensed electrical contractor’s representative, contained their PAN card details, photographs and forged signatures.The applications had reportedly been emailed to the power company on Aug 8 and 9.On Aug 23, the residents met a man identified as Jignesh Kadia, who allegedly admitted that he had submitted the applications using their names, but refused to disclose at whose behest.Vastrapur police have registered a complaint against Kadia and are investigating the alleged forgery, including who instructed him and the purpose behind seeking the disconnections.
