PESCO employees announce strike from Monday

SWABI:

Employees of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) have announced a complete strike from September 2 in district Swabi against the brutal killings of their colleague.

They announced a sit-in on Monday in Aman Chowk in Swabi and announced that power supply to the entire province would be closed if the murderers are not arrested by police.

It may be mentioned here that an official of PESCO was killed and two others injured on Thursday when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on them, according to police officials.

Police stated that they had gone to the Maneri Payyan for a recovery operation, as PESCO had tasked them with completing the recovery as quickly as possible.

"The PESCO officials were on a recovery mission," said an policeman, requesting anonymity. The incident occurred in the village of Maneri Payyan, just a kilometer away from the Swabi City police station.

The injured and the deceased PESCO personnel were taken to the district headquarters hospital, where doctors reported that one of the injured was out of danger, while the other was in critical condition.

On Friday employees and the people of the area staged a protest by keeping the body of the slain officer Hafiz Kamranullah in Colonel Sher Khan Shaheed Chowk.

The protestors were chanting slogans. On this occasion, the orphaned children of the slain official were also present with the body of their deceased father.

Meanwhile, Topi, Mardan and Jahangir roads remained closed for traffic. PESCO employees in Swabi district announced three days of mourning while employees across the district started a strike.

During this time, all the offices remained closed and they announced that if the accused are not arrested, there will be a protest in the entire province from Monday.

The Central President of Hydro Electric Workers Union Gohar Taj, Provincial President Muhammad Iqbal, General Secretary Noorul Amin Khairazi, Jameel Khan Hazara, Saeed Ahmed and Roohul Amin and others addressed the protest and demanded the government that protection should be provided to PESCO officials.