QUETTA/SUKKUR, Feb 1: A large part of Balochistan was plunged into darkness after some people blew up two big towers of 220kv transmission line in Sibbi on Tuesday night.
From 9:30pm, when the incident occurred, Sibbi, Quetta, Zhob, Kalat, Khuzdar, Mastung, Noshki, Chaman and Pishin districts went without electricity. The supply had not been restored till late night.
However, Jaffarabad and Naseerabad districts continued to receive uninterrupted power supply. Other districts fortunate enough to continue receiving power were Loralai, Barkhan and Kohlu because they are fed by power stations located in Dera Ghazi Khan.
The Lasbella district, which gets its supply from the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), also remained undisturbed by the Sibbi sabotage. On January 29, miscreants had blown up four poles of Guddu transmission line in the Chither area of Naseerabad district.
From then on, most Balochistan districts were getting electricity from the 220kv transmission line of Sibbi which also became a target of saboteurs on Tuesday. District Police Officer Sibbi Gul Khan Sasoli confirmed the incident by telephone.
Our Sukkur correspondent quotes the DPO Sibbi as telling him that a series of bomb blasts rocked locality where the 220kv grid station is located. As a result, two high-tension towers of the station were uprooted, disrupting electricity supply to 22 cities and towns of Balochistan.
Unconfirmed reports said the outlaws had tried to blow up the grid station, but could only target the two towers. An official at the Saddar police station said that their wireless phones were not working, and there was chaos everywhere. No responsible official of Hesco was available for comments.
Late at night, the DPO Sibbi told Dawn that the first blast at 9.30pm had damaged the towers but another one at 11.15pm plunged the entire province into darkness. However, the grid station was safe and Qesco authorities, along with engineers and technicians, had reached the scene of sabotage and were trying to start the repair work.
QUETTA BLASTS: In Quetta, a man wanted in cases of subversive acts was killed and four railways employees, including a police official, were injured in two bomb blasts on Tuesday.
Capital City Police Officer Rafi Pervaiz Bhatti told newsmen that Bahar Khan, an employee of the education department hailing from Dera Bugti, was blown up when a bomb hidden in the scooter he was riding exploded on the Art School Road.
Two passers-by received minor injuries. The police official said the victim was wanted in blast cases. He said the saboteurs had changed their tactics and started targeting public places and sensitive installations.
He said a key figure of the saboteurs had been arrested four days ago and 24 other suspects had also been apprehended. Windowpanes of a bogey of the Rawalpindi-bound Jaffar Express were smashed and four railways employees injured when a bomb planted in garbage near the rail tracks between the Sariab crossing and the overhead bridge exploded.
Railway Police Superintendent Naeem Khan Kakar said Sub-Inspector Abdul Rehman, Guard Jehanzeb, Senior Ticket Examiner Mohammad Afzal and Steward Shahid Iqbal were injured. Railways Divisional Superintendent Hasan Ali Toori said saboteurs exploded a detonator by remote control.
