MARDAN, May 28: Twelve persons, including a camera man of a private TV channel and district vice-president of Pakistan People’s Party-S, were injured when police baton charged the anti-loadshedding protesters here on Monday.

The angry protesters took to the streets against the 18 to 20 hours long power outage causing financial loss to traders’ community as well as affecting women, children and aged people in the scorching heat in parts of the city.

The protesters included PPP-S workers, members of all carpenters association, jewellers association, fruit and vegetable association and people belonging to different walks of life. They marched towards the Wapda office located near the police lines.

They were chanting slogans against the Wapda authorities and provincial government for their failure to resolve the issue of loadshedding.

The police personnel present in a large number on the spot, started baton charge when the angry protesters tried to enter the Wapda office. Resultantly, 12 protesters, including former UC nazim of Baghdada and district vice-president of the PPP-S Hamayum Khelgi, were injured.

The injured persons were shifted to district headquarters hospital. The officials of city police station claimed to have registered FIR against 120 protesters in which 20 had been arrested so far.

Sources said the protesters had ransacked some parts of the office of Wapda besides resorting to firing in the air.

SWABI: Businesses community of Chota Lahor tehsil and leaders of various political parties on Monday staged a protest demonstration against the excessive loadshedding.

The traders and leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-N, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F and Jamaat-i-Islami gathered in the Yar Hussain bazaar and marched through the bazaar while blocking the Yar Hussain-Chota Lahor road for traffic.

During the protest, the shopkeepers and traders kept their businesses closed.

The speakers said the duration of the loadshedding had been increased with the rise in temperature. Traders said the continuous loadshedding had crippled their businesses and the government was responsible for their losses.

A local leader of PPP, Dr Jan Alam, announced quitting the party on the occasion as he said the PPP-led government had failed to end the loadshedding.

KARAK: Social welfare organisations have threatened to encircle the Pesco office if the unscheduled loadshedding was not ended.

A meeting of various organisations, including Khattak Ittehad, Karak Welfare Organisation, Chountra Welfare Organisation and United Workers Welfare Organisation, was held at Town Hall Karak on Monday to review the situation arising out of the unabated and prolonged loadshedding.

The participants of the meeting said that practically there was no electricity in the district as the power was available to the consumers for only two hours. They said that the people would not deposit monthly power bills until the power supply was regularised.  The speakers said that the Pesco should devise a mechanism to ensure smooth power supply to the consumers.

GHALANAI: Tribesmen on Monday blocked the Peshawar-Bajaur road at Mian Mandi bazaar to protest against 20-hour-long loadshedding in the Mohmand Agency.

The protesters marched on the road and raised slogans against the Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco). They said the prolonged power outages had created severe shortage of drinking water, forcing the people to buy water for domestic use from private contractors.

Addressing protesters, Jamaat-i-Islami, Mohmand agency, chief Mohammad Saeed Khan and others criticised Tesco for carrying out unscheduled loadshedding. They said if smooth supply of electricity was not restored by Thursday, the locals would storm the Ghalanai grid station.

PTI Fata deputy organiser Fakhr-i-Alam and others said if the loadshedding was not ended the people would launch a protest movement.