GUJRANWALA, Oct 3: A mob stormed the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) headquarters on Monday and smashed office equipment besides injuring several officials, including a DSP and an SHO, in a major demonstration to protest 18 to 20 hours of loadshedding daily.

The protesters also injured the driver and passengers of two trains and threw traffic on GT Road out of gear by setting tyres ablaze in Sheranwala Bagh, Shaheenabad, Gondlanwala Chowk and Rawalpidni Bypass after spending virtually a whole night without electricity. They also pelted passengers of buses and other vehicles with stones and blocked various city roads from Sheranwala Bagh to Aalam Chowk and other areas.

The situation worsened when the mob tried to enter Gepco headquarters premises while the police resorted to a baton charge to disperse them.

Model Town DSP Abdul Qayyum Gondal, area SHO and several other police officials were injured after being hit by stones flung by the demonstrators. They also hurled stones at two trains, injuring the driver of one of the trains besides some passengers. They intercepted school buses and vans owing to which students and their parents underwent huge agony and anguish for hours.

The mob set ablaze a Gepco bus, smashed windowpanes of a private bank and signboards and other infrastructure of government and private properties along GT Road.

The mob laid a siege to Gepco headquarters and put office record and other equipment to torch after rampaging the building.

The protesters set fire to the offices of SE (Cantonment) and various sub-divisional offices before setting ablaze a police post in Aalam Chowk. They forced shopkeepers to close down their business and participate in the rampage.

The police restored to a baton charge before firing teargas shells and then aerial firing to disperse the protesters, injuring some of the protesters.

One of the injured persons was identified as Naveed Mughal, the younger brother of PML-N city president Abdul Rauf Mughal.

A Rescue-1122 ambulance shifted him to DHQ Hospital.

Talking to Dawn, Rauf Mughal said Naveed was not involved in any protest, rather he was there to pacify the protesters.

The operations SSP warned that culprits involved in the rampage would be taken to task.

At least 50 people were arrested by the police after another mob set two Rescue-1122 vehicles on fire near Aalam Chowk in the evening.

A police contingent after hours-long effort had managed to disperse the protesters who had attacked Gepco headquarters.

However, another mob started their protest near Kangniwala bypass, rampaging the Rescue-1122 office near Aalam Chowk.

Another mob attacked the Laddaywala Warraich police station on Monday evening and destroyed its records. They put the building to torch besides damaging vehicles. During the attack, three detained suspects fled the custody.

Erratic battle between the police and the demonstrators was going on till the filing of this report.

All traders’ associations have called for observing a strike on Tuesday (today).

SIALKOT: Around 2,500 industrial workers and laboures, who have been terminated from their workplaces owing to power outages, staged a sit-in in Badiana and Gunnah localities on Sialkot-Pasrur Road to protest loadshedding.

The protesters blocked traffic for about three hours by burning tyres. They broke windscreens of several vehicles and beat up motorists, injuring eight of them. The police fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters.

Meanwhile, hundreds of PML-N activists led by Chief Minister’s Special Assistant Manshaullah Butt staged a rally and held a sit-in at Allama Iqbal Chowk to protest the loadshedding.Hundreds of protesters laid a siege to Gepco’s offices in Shahabpura.

Traders and citizens also participated in the demonstration. They blocked the road by burning tyres and placing obstructions.

Industrial workers and owners led by Shahid Ali Mughal staged a protest rally in Daska also.

GUJRAT: Protester responding to a ‘peaceful’ strike call given by local trader organisations lost their patience and they resorted to launching a vigorous attack on Gepco’s main offices on GT Road by burning records and vehicles of employees.

Three of the protesters reportedly received injuries when the police resorted to launching a baton charge and then aerial firing to disperse the demonstrators.

The local trader associations had called for observing a complete strike against loadshedding on which scores of people gathered at Pakistan Chowk. Later, the demonstrators embarked upon a march on city roads to reach Gepco’s offices. They blocked almost all main roads of the city by burning tyres and kept the vehicular traffic suspended almost for the whole day.

The GT Road turned into a battleground between the police and the protesters.

The police’s coercive measures to disperse the demonstrators annoyed them further and they attacked Gepco’s main offices and put to torch more than a dozen motorbikes parked in the compound beside official records, furniture and computers. A young demonstrator was injured by a bullet fired by the police while two others were injured during the baton charge.

The demonstrators then marched up to Shaheen Chowk on bypass and blocked the main GT Road for several hours.

Talking to Dawn, SE Mian Munir said the department was ascertaining its loss. He said the company could not supply power to consumers due to a paltry supply of power against over 150MW demand for Gujrat alone.

The police have not registered any case so far.

TOBA TEK SINGH: Different organisations took out a rally here to protest outages and blocked traffic for more than three hours on different roads while demonstrators blocked Faisalabad-Multan Road for four hours in Pirmahal.

In Toba city, demonstrators led by Powerloom Owners Association President Haji Muhammad Idrees, Labour Party district secretary Tariq Mahmood, office-bearers of TMA sanitary workers union and shoe makers association staged a rally from Waryam Road.

Rampaging through the city roads, they forced shopkeepers on Waryam and Shorkot roads to close down their businesses and set ablze tyres, throwing traffic on Toba-Gojra, Toba-Kamalia, Toba-Shorkot and Toba-Jhang roads for more than two hours.

Addressing the gathering at the level crossing chowk, speakers announced if prolonged and unscheduled power outages continued. Later, demonstrators and Fesco executive engineer Chaudhry Muhammad Safdar held talks in the presence of ASP Amjad Sheikh. The Fesco official said the situation would improve in a couple of days and loadshedding would reduce significantly.

It was also decided that a meeting of representatives of protesters and Fesco chief executive Tariq Chattha would be held at DPO’s office on Oct 8 to settle the loadshedding issue. After the announcement of these decisions, the protesters dispersed.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters tried to attack Pirmahal grid station. However, the police cordoned the Fesco installation off and foiled the bid. The demonstrators later reached the Government High School No 1 to invite students to participate in the protest but the police contingent led by a DSP once again foiled the attempt.

The stick-wielding protesters later rampaged through city bazaars and forced shopkeepers to shut their shops. They blocked traffic on Faisalabad-Multan Road for four hours by setting tyres on fire.

FAISALABAD: A complete strike was observed here on Monday against power outages and surging prices of petroleum products.

Responding to a call given by Traders’ Forum on Sunday, shopkeepers of Clock Tower bazaars, including Montgomery, Jhang, Bhawana, Aminpur, Chiniot, Kutchery, Rail and Kharkhana bazaar, kept their shutters up. However, a few mobile phone traders of Kutchery bazaar observed partial strike.

A few demonstrations were also held in different areas where protesters set ablaze tyres.

Traders set up a protest camp at the Clock Tower intersection where speakers criticised the federal government, particularly President Zardari.

The speakers said the federal government seemed reluctant in resolving public issues and despite its tall claims, the situation was going from bad to worse.

They said recent increase in the prices of petroleum products and hours-long power outages had made the life of people miserable.

Members of the District Bar Association (DBA) also observed a strike and they did not appear in district courts, asking their clients to get their cases adjourned on their own.

The police remained high alert at Clock Tower intersection to avoid any untoward incident, fearing the repetition of Sunday’s events wherein the protesters had rampaged two Fesco offices and damaged an ATM of a bank and windowpanes of two other banks near District Council Chowk beside breaking the windscreens of some vehicles parked in the vicinity.

The Factory Area, Ghulam Mohammadabad, and Civil Lines police have registered cases against unidentified protesters.

MIANWALI: The supreme council of Tehrik-i-Haqooq-i-Mianwali (THM) staged hunger strike camp at Ikram Shaheed Chowk to protest loadshedding.

They also criticised the Punjab government for not taking any action against the DCO and the DPO for their role in the July 4 police action against power protesters.

The THM, consisting of various local political activists, had taken out a protest rally against loadshedding on July 4 when two protesters were killed and many others were injured during a clash with police and a judicial inquiry into the fateful incident is still pending.

THM activist gathered at the chowk at 9am and started chanting slogans against the Punjab government for not taking any action against DCO Tariq Mehmood and DPO Waqas Nazir, who, the protesters believed, were responsible for the killing of innocent protesters.

They also chanted slogans against prolonged outages. Former MNA Inamullah Khan Niazi of the PML-N also turned up at the camp and supported the THM stance.

Talking to Dawn, THM leader Haji Falak Sher said they would continue their token hunger strike on a daily basis till the DCO and the DPO were transferred and a disciplinary action against them was ordered.

OKARA: People from all walks of life took to the street to protest the unscheduled outages by burning tyres and chanting slogans against Lesco and the federal government.

Traders led by their association president Haji Chaudhry Salim Sadiq staged a hunger strike camp at Gole Chowk and demanded a end to such outages.

Lawyers led by DBA President Akhtar Husain Bhatti also observed strike against loadshedding.

Lesco authorities earlier hesitated in facing the protesters. However, DPO Dr Raja Muhammad Abid Khan convinced them to pacify the protesters lest any untoward incident happened.