Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has asked the executive authorities to provide adequate security at all the business offices and sensitive installations belonging to the utility.
The privately-run utility’s demand came in view of the recent spate of violent attacks by defaulting consumers and electricity thieves at its installations.
KESC expressed dissatisfaction over inadequate security arrangements and lenient attitude which had resulted in encouraging the highhandedness by bills defaulters and illegal users who had been destroying utility’s offices and equipment serving two million inhabitants of the Metropolis.
The miscreants had even set KESC offices on fire on June 6 but no action had yet been taken against them.
KESC demanded immediate arrest of and stringent action against those responsible for burning of Liaquatabad customer care centre and attacks at other offices to discourage the violent trend.
KESC said on June 8 morning, a group of over 200 mobsters, mostly armed, comprising defaulters and power thieves from Shah Faisal Colony tried to force their entry into the utility offices in Malir-15 but the attempt was defeated by KESC security. The miscreants had wanted to attack GM of Shah Faisal office who has been operating from Malir after receiving threats. The miscreants left after threatening to attack the Malir office again in the next few days. Same mobsters had attempted violence at this on June 7 as well but were dispersed by KESC security personnel.
Same day, another group of miscreants Sectors 14 and 15 of Gulistan-e-Jouhar gathered at VIBC Jouhar in the garb of protest and abused complaint supervisor. They threw burning tyres over the gate and a burning piece of wood inside complaint window. Wind screens of three maintenance vehicles were also broken.
As a matter of routine, KESC said, the illegal users of electricity, especially from those areas where illegal hooks were removed, always attacked the field staff, on the pretext of protest against outage. All these attackers most of times succeeded in misguiding media too which mistakenly reported the violent incidents as mere protest agitations.
