Sitara Group of Industries owner Mian Idrees, also the owner of the entertainment channel Alief TV, was reportedly arrested at Lahore Airport alongside two former FESCO chief executives in a major electricity theft crackdown.
WEBDESK | MediaBites.com.pk
In one of the most significant electricity theft arrests in Pakistan’s recent corporate history, Mian Idrees, owner of Faisalabad’s Sitara Group of Industries and entertainment channel Alief TV, has been arrested at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport.
Two former chief executives of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), identified as Khurshid Alam and Saeed Akhtar, were also arrested in connection with the same case — adding a deeply troubling institutional dimension to what appears to be a coordinated and long-running electricity theft operation.
Who Is Mian Idrees
Mian Idrees is one of Faisalabad’s most prominent industrialists and the head of the Sitara Group of Industries, a major name in Pakistan’s textile and industrial sectors with decades of operations in the country’s largest industrial city.
Beyond industry, he is also the owner of Alief TV, an entertainment channel that serves audiences across Pakistan’s media landscape — making his arrest one of the most high-profile simultaneous industrial and media sector cases in recent memory.
Former FESCO CEOs — The Institutional Angle
The arrests of two former FESCO chief executives, Khurshid Alam and Saeed Akhtar, along with the industrial owner, transform this from a straightforward electricity theft case into a serious case of institutional corruption.
FESCO is the state-owned electricity distribution company responsible for supplying power across Faisalabad and the surrounding regions. The alleged involvement of the company’s own former chief executives in a theft case involving one of the region’s largest industrial consumers raises fundamental questions about how such an arrangement could have been sustained and for how long it allegedly operated under the noses of regulatory oversight.
The airport arrest of Mian Idrees suggests authorities may have been monitoring his movements and moved to prevent him from leaving the country as the case developed.
Pakistan’s Industrial Electricity Theft Problem
Electricity theft is one of Pakistan’s most economically damaging problems. The country loses hundreds of billions of rupees annually through power pilferage across both residential and industrial sectors. FESCO alone has been running ongoing crackdowns across its service area, registering dozens of cases and making multiple arrests in recent months as part of a broader national push against electricity theft.
However, the arrest of a major industrial group owner, alongside former utility company chief executives, represents a qualitatively different level of alleged theft from typical meter-tampering cases. Industrial-scale electricity theft, allegedly facilitated by utility insiders, imposes enormous losses on the national grid, distorts the cost of electricity for honest consumers, and undermines the finances of Pakistan’s already severely strained power sector.
Pakistan’s electricity sector is currently burdened by circular debt exceeding PKR 2.4 trillion, a crisis that honest industrial and domestic consumers ultimately pay for through elevated tariffs. Cases of large-scale industrial theft allegedly enabled by utility officials are a direct contributor to that circular debt burden.
Investigation Underway
Further investigation into the case is underway. The specific amounts of alleged electricity theft, the duration of the alleged arrangement, and the precise charges being brought against all three accused have not yet been fully detailed in official statements.
MediaBites.com.pk will update this report as further information becomes available.
This report is based on information available at the time of publication. All accused are entitled to the presumption of innocence. MediaBites.com.pk invites Sitara Group, Alief TV, and representatives of the accused to share their response for publication. AI Generated image ust for presentation purpose only.
