HYDERABAD: The Qasimabad SDO (sub-divisional officer) of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) was beaten up by some people on Tuesday, apparently in reaction to the disconnection of power supply to a consumer.

According to a Hesco spokesman, SDO Sajjad Rind had cut off an illegal connection a couple of days back in Revenue Colony for the recovery of about Rs235,000 from a consumer. He said that the connection was registered in name of Waheed Jan Sarhandi.

According to him, some unknown persons visited the SDO’s office on Tuesday to ascertain whereabouts of Sajjad Rind, who at that time was visiting a site near post office in the Qasimabad Phase-I area.

The spokesman said that they left the SDO’s office and then went after him. Finding SDO Rind and his staff present near the post office, they started beating them up, he said.

Later, the SDO identified one of the attackers as Azam Zardari, and said he was leading the around a dozen assailants. His companions were riding two Vigo vehicles, the SDO added.

According to the SDO, the consumer is not only a defaulter but he had also been using a direct [unmetered] connection for long. The consumer was told to regularise the connection but he was not ready to pay off the dues, he said. The beneficiaries of this connection had about Rs235,000 outstanding against them for the last seven months, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2025