PESHAWAR: Around 200 people, led by the members of the national and provincial assemblies, on Tuesday stormed the Khandar grid station in Nowshera district and forcibly resumed electric supply on several feeders, said the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco).

It added that the mob’s act of turning on the feeders disrupted the electricity schedule in the region, plunging several areas into darkness.

In a statement issued here, the power utility said that Nowshera MNA Zulfiqar Ali and MPA Zar Alam Khan along with around 200 protesters “attacked” the Khandar grid station.

“This act of aggression resulted in the forced resumption of electricity from multiple critical feeders serving Risalpur subdivision, including Khashegi Town, Khashegi Express, Khashegi Tubewell, Behram Kalay and Old Bara Banda feeders. The attack severely disrupted the electricity schedule in the region, plunging several areas into darkness,” it said.

The power utility said that MNA Zulfiqar Ali threatened Pesco staff present at the grid station, warning them that he would take control of the grid station with the help of protesters if they “attempted to carry out load management or maintenance” in affected feeders.

“This intimidation follows a similar violent incident a few days ago, when MNA Zulfiqar Ali had already attacked the Pubbi Grid Station Nowshera, causing extensive damage by tearing up record registers and destroying other equipment,” it said.

The Pesco said that its officials immediately reported the incident to the police and submitted an application for lodging an FIR at the relevant police station following the previous grid station attack.

“Given the gravity of Tuesday’s attack, the Pesco filed another request for lodging the second FIR against MNA Zulfiqar Ali and the other individuals involved in the violent incident,” it said.

The Pesco said that earlier on the night of Dec 20, MNA Zulfiqar barged into the Pabbi grid station in Nowshera district along with around 25 men.

It accused the MNA of manhandling the grid station staff, destroying documents and CCTV cameras.

The power utility said that the MNA was demanding the power utility to not do load shedding at the Ajab Bagh feeder which had accumulated unpaid arrears of Rs171 million.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2024