BATKHELA/PESHAWAR: The Malakand Levies on Saturday arrested a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet member, a PTI MNA and five ruling party activists for leading a mob into ransacking the Pesco office in Batkhela amid protests against the frequent power outages in the province.

Among those taken into custody were adviser to the chief minister and MPA Shakeel Ahmad, MNA Junaid Akbar, union council nazim Asghar Ayub and PTI workers Ikram, Asad, Arshad and Sadiq Shah.

They all were booked under sections 141, 143, 145, 147, 149 and 152 of the Pakistan Panel Code.

Peshawar villagers end protest over outages after relief promised

The mob earlier blocked Totakan Road against the prolonged power cuts before reaching Khar area to ransack the Pesco sub-divisional office and torch equipment and furniture.

The Malakand Levies personnel fired gunshots in the air to disperse the protesters.

They later held lawmakers and took them to their checkpost.

The arrested protesters told reporters that Pesco was subjecting Batkhela to 10-20 hours power outages daily and therefore, the people had taken to the streets.

Also in the day, villagers led by PTI PK-6 MPA Fazal Elahi ended their protest outside the Hazarkhwani grid station on the outskirts of the provincial capital on Saturday after the Pesco promised reduction in the loadshedding hours.

On Friday, the residents of several villagers led by lawmaker Fazal Elahi had stormed three Pesco grid stations, including Hazarakhwani one, and interfered with the company’s power distribution system.

The Pesco later got a police complaint registered against the lawmaker at the Yakatoot police station. The protesters showed up again on Saturday but the policemen, who were deployed outside the grid station in large numbers, didn’t let them in.

They stayed put for go away around six hours before going away after successful talks with the Pesco’s representatives.

Mr Elahi told Dawn that Pesco along with district administration officials assured them of bringing down loadshedding’s duration first to 12 hours a day and then to 10 hours.

“Power cuts of 10 hours daily will last five days. They will come down to eight hours afterward,” he said.

The lawmaker said the people had removed kundas (illegal hooks for power supply) from several villages but the Pesco didn’t install new meters or cables there.

He alleged that Pesco officials were involved in corruption and power thefts and that they illegally provided electricity to filling stations.

“The Pesco staff receives Rs200,000 a month from a single petrol pump for giving ‘direct’ power connections,” he added.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Pesco said the protesters left from outside the grid station after learning about reduction in power outages under Ramazan Package.

Also, KP police chief Allauddin Khan Mehsud issued directions to all regional police officers to ensure security of Pesco installations across the province.

A statement issued here, he said no one would be allowed to enter grid stations.

The police chief added said the holding of peaceful protests was the right of citizens but no one would be allowed to take the law into own hands.

PML-N FLAYS PTI: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has held the PTI responsible for the increasing power outages and urged the people to stop taking out rallies in this respect.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, PML-N provincial information secretary Nasir Khan Musazai said the federal government was trying to overcome the issue of power cuts by establishing new power stations but the PTI leadership was creating hurdles in that respect.

He said the PTI lawmakers were leading protest rallies and interfering with the Pesco’s official work in violation of the law.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone is not enduring loadshedding and instead, it is a national issue, which needs coordinated efforts for resolution,” he said.

The leaguer said protest demonstrations encouraged power thefts.

He said the federal government was trying to ensure smooth power supply to the people, especially during sehr and iftar hours.

He asked the people to stop using illegal power connections and pay bills regularly to avoid power supply disconnection and legal action.

Meanwhile, the people of Ghalanai area of Mohmand Agency and adjoining areas have complained that electric supply remains suspended for around 22 hours daily to their misery.

They insisted that the excessive power cuts had caused water shortage and thus, forcing them to buy water from private tankers at exorbitant rate for drinking and other domestic purposes.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2017