SUKKUR, Sept 7: Hesco consumers from Rohri protested against the issuance of detection bills and wanted to meet with the Hesco chief, shortly after his arrival at Sukkur on Sunday, to lodge their complaints.

Police stopped the protesters from meeting him. So the latter started raising slogans against the police and demanded that the SDO and line superintendent, Hesco, Rohri, be suspended.

The protesters said that the Hesco officials were indulged in electricity theft for which they had to pay.

Later, while talking to newsmen, the Hesco chief, Brig (retd) Tariq Arshad, said that every possible step was being taken to stop the electricity theft.

He claimed that to root out this practice, strict action had been taken against the Hesco officials concerned and some of them had also been fired.

Supporting the serving of detection bills to the consumers, he said that maybe some people had been wrongly issued detection bills, and our mobile teams would withdraw them after on-the-spot checking.

He said that under the programme Khushaal Pakistan Programme, 595 villages would be provided electricity, while electricity to 144 villages would be provided with the funds of MNAs, MPAs and district governments, and added that the latter included 25 villages of Hyderabad, four of Thatta, 13 of Badin, 10 of Mirpurkhas, eight of Thar, two of Naushahro Feroze, six of Dadu, nine of Sanghar, 22 of Khairpur, 20 of Ghotki, five of Shikarpur, and nine villages of Jacobabad.

He said that in these villages 40 poor people would be issued electricity meters free of cost. He, however, added that they would only have to pay Rs200 as security charges.

He advised the people to inform the Hesco officers about any irregularity experienced in this respect.

POLICE STATION ATTACKED: The outlaws of Balochistan once again attacked the Bugti Colony police station and check post, near Kandhkot, on Sunday by firing two rockets but no one was injured. It was the fifth such attack during the week.