GAUSHALA: As many as 28 persons have been arrested on the charge of electricity theft from various locations of Mahottari district on Thursday.

A joint monitoring team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, formed at the request of the Jaleshwor-based distribution centre of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), arrested them yesterday evening for tapping into the utility poles with hooks to steal electricity, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Khagendra Bahadur Khadka.

They would be released after being fined an amount between Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 each, said Khadka. The NEA branch in the district has been launching a campaign against power theft.