Violent protests were witnessed in Kasur and Mardan on Wednesday as there was no letup in unscheduled and prolonged power outages across the country. Several residents of Khudian Town in Kasur staged a protest demonstration on Deepalpur Road against the 20-hour power outage in Ramadan by blocking roads, burning tyres, ransacking the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) office and damaging two official vans.
According to details, over 500 protesters stoned the LESCO office building, damaging windows, other valuables and office records. Protesters also burned two office vans parked outside the building. A heavy contingent of police led by DSP city reached the spot but played the role of a silent spectator, encouraging agitators to raise slogans in favour of police and against LESCO. The protesters later stoned the grid station and held a sit in.
Police finally resorted to baton-charge after witnessing violence for four hours. Meanwhile, residents of Hathian and Shergarh in Mardan held a protest against electricity load shedding in Ramadan particularly at Sehr and Iftar timings. They blocked the Shergarh Highway for some time and later encircled the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) office in Shergarh. Demonstrators got violent and broke windows of the WAPDA office.
