Four officials and employees—including Md. Mohitul Islam, General Manager (GM) of the Magura Palli Bidyut Samity—have been temporarily suspended following an incident where a residential customer was issued an exorbitant bill of Tk 5,06,83,11,593 for consuming 235 units of electricity.

Meanwhile, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, Minister of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, personally called the affected customer, Mst. Aleya Khatun, to express his regret over the incident.

This information was disclosed in a press release issued by the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on Wednesday. Following the suspension of Md. Mohitul Islam, S.M. Shahin Ahsan—Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Mohammadpur Regional Office—has been appointed as the Acting General Manager of the Magura Palli Bidyut Samity. He also confirmed the suspension of the four individuals to *Prothom Alo*.

Apart from Md. Mohitul Islam, the other three suspended employees are Sima Rani Roy (Billing Supervisor), Soma Rani Ghosh (Billing Assistant), and Mohammad Torap Ali (Meter Reader-cum-Messenger) from the Arpara Regional Office in Shalikha Upazila.

Md. Mohitul Islam has been attached to the office of the Superintending Engineer (Jashore Zone) following his suspension, while the other three have been attached to the Magura headquarters.

Earlier, the Arpara Regional Office of Palli Bidyut had issued a bill amounting to Tk 5,06,83,11,593 to Aleya Khatun, a resident of Kechuadubi village in Magura Sadar Upazila, for the consumption of 235 units of electricity. The bill was corrected after the matter came to light, and Aleya Khatun subsequently paid the revised bill of Tk 1,963.

The ministry's press release noted that the Minister ordered an immediate investigation upon learning of the incident. Preliminary investigations revealed that an incredibly inflated "ghost bill" was generated due to a mechanical error during a meter replacement, where the seal number was inadvertently entered into the "demand charge" field.

Upon confirming these initial findings, strict departmental and disciplinary actions have been taken against the officials and employees involved in the incident.

**Apology to the customer via phone call**

After the issue of the abnormal bill surfaced in the media, Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud called the affected customer, Aleya Khatun, around 11:30 AM on Wednesday to express his regret.

During the conversation, the Minister apologized for the mental distress and anxiety caused by this unfortunate incident. He also requested that she report such issues directly to the authorities in the future.

Confirming the call, Aleya Khatun told *Prothom Alo* in the afternoon, "He didn't say much; he simply expressed regret. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls I was receiving, so I am actually confused about whether it was the Minister or the State Minister who called."

In a statement, Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud affirmed that the current government is committed to ensuring a public-friendly and service-oriented administration. He stated that to alleviate public suffering, any electricity-related complaint would be treated with the utmost importance, and effective measures would be taken in the shortest possible time.