Protesters block roads in Karachi's Ahsanabad over day-long power outage

KARACHI: Protesters blocked roads in the metropolis' Ahsanabad area Friday night as they faced a persistent power outage for a day after the city's sole power supplier allegedly cut off electricity over the arrest of its officers.

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers reached the site of the demonstration to try to facilitate negotiations with the protesters, some of whom had resorted to burning tires and, thereby, blocking the traffic.

Authorities assured protesters after some hours of talks that the power would soon be resumed.

The residents of Ahsanabad area, where eight-year-old Umer was electrocuted after a loose wire fell on him, took to the M9 Motorway, claiming they did not have power since 8AM Friday morning. They further explained that the employees of the local K-Electric office were absent after some of their colleagues were arrested.

The demonstrators further asserted that KE has refused to resume power supply until the arrested officers were released.

The paternal uncle of Umar, the minor boy whose arms had to be amputated after the electric shock burns, alleged that KE officials were putting pressure on the family to retract the first information report (FIR) they had filed against KE employees for their negligence that led to the untoward incident and that was the basis of the officers' arrest.

On the other hand, KE retorted by saying their local teams in the Gadap area were being harassed, which is why a fault in the electric lines could not be fixed.