PESHAWAR, March 11: The Wapda Engineers Association has threatened to stop power supply to Mattani subdivision if those involved in attack on an SDO and his staff are not arrested.

Speaking at a press conference at the press club on Saturday, the association’s president Qurban Ali Khan said that one Mumraiz Khan with other local people on March 9 beat SDO Yousaf Hussain, who wanted to install a power meter outside his house as part of an operation to prevent electricity theft in Mattani subdivision. The SDO and members of his team were injured, he said.

He complained that the chief executive of the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company had not inquired after the injured employees.

He claimed that 70 per cent of electricity being supplied to the subdivision was stolen, causing loss of millions of rupees to Pesco per month.

He called upon the provincial government to ensure its writ in the rural areas so that Pesco staff could carry out their duties.

He urged the Pesco chief executive to keep liaison with the employees and help solve their problems.

He appealed to the authorities concerned to take action against those involved in the incident and threatened that otherwise the engineers would halt electricity supply to the area.

He urged the authorities to provide security to the staff responsible for taking action against illegal connections.