DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Residents of Chaman Chowk area blocked a road here on Wednesday in protest against a Pesco crackdown on illegal electricity connections, burning tyres near Mohalla Jogianwala.

The protesters, led by local Nazim Chaudhry Shafiq, alleged that Pesco officials were harassing consumers and disconnecting their electricity connections without justification.

The protesters later dispersed and reopened the road. Pesco sources, however, said the action was part of an ongoing campaign against illegal electricity use in Dera Ismail Khan circle. They said their teams conducted operations on the 11KV Town Hall and 11KV Commissioner Bazaar feeders.

According to Pesco officials, dozens of direct electricity connections, commonly referred to as kundas, were detected at the 200KVA Mohalla Hayatullah transformer on the Town Hall feeder. Action was also taken against alleged double-source connections on the Commissioner Bazaar feeder.

The officials said similar action was also taken against dozens of direct connections at the 200KVA Tandoor Wali Gali transformer near Chaman Chowk on the Commissioner Bazaar feeder and the alleged double-source connections linked to the Town Hall and Topanwala feeders.

During the operation, Pesco teams allegedly detected eight direct connections from two different feeders being used at a house. A complaint was subsequently submitted to city police station against the person concerned, officials said.

Meanwhile, Pesco employees staged a protest at the Wapda office, demanding security for the field staff. They said they would not perform duties in the area until adequate security arrangements were made.

The Hydro Labour Union also staged a sit-in at the superintendent engineer’s office, demanding action against those allegedly involved in obstructing Pesco operations.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2026