BAJAUR: The Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) has disconnected power supply to all filling stations in Bajaur tribal district after their owners refused to allow installation of electricity metres, sources in the company said on Thursday.

They said that the company had taken the step after its senior officials announced last week to start installation of metres at all the filling stations in the district. They said that the owners were also informed about the decision during a meeting.

However, the sources claimed that the owners of filling stations had refused the company’s plan to install metres at their stations.

The owners of filling stations, meanwhile, confirmed the action and termed the step wrong and unjustified.

Addressing an emergency meeting of the representatives of All Bajaur Petroleum Association, its president Salman Khan strongly condemned the Tesco’s action against the filling stations.

The participants claimed that the Tesco officials neither took the representatives of the association nor the owners of the filling stations into confidence before taking the action.

Refusal to install power metres cited as reason

The association leaders said that they were not against the installation of power metres, but they did not want the process to be started from the petrol pumps of Bajaur tribal district.

They urged the Tesco officials to restore power supply to their filling stations and said that they would cooperate with the company if it launched installation of electricity metres at the filling stations across tribal districts.

They demanded of the company to resolve the issues of prolonged outages and low voltage and ensure smooth power supply to the filling stations.

ARRESTED: Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested a drug dealer along with narcotics here in Muala Kallay area in Bajaur tribal district.

According to a statement issued here by the DPO’s office, the drug dealer, identified as Bakhat Zaman of Amankot, Swat, was arrested on a tip-off by a team of officials while allegedly supplying drugs to Salarzai region in a car.

It said that four kilogrammes of opium and two kiolgrammes charas were recovered from the car. The statement said that the accused was sent to prison after registration of a case against him.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2020