Line of duty: Two IESCO officials gunned down

ISLAMABAD:

Two officials of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) have been gunned down on the outskirts of the capital.

The bodies of Anwar Zada, a lab assistant and Ansar Wadood, a lineman, were found near a seasonal drain close to a house acquired by an Afghan national on rent in the limits of Shehzad Town police station, SP Rural Yasir Afridi said.

The suspect and his family are missing since the incident took place.

The two officials, hailing from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), had gone to the area to check illegal electricity connections.

They were responsible to visit different localities and report illegal connections and other discrepancies.

IESCO spokesperson Fayyaz Hussain Siddiqui said the officials were on routine duty. He, however, said he was unaware of the illegal electricity connection.

After the incident, IESCO employees took out a protest rally from Polyclinic to the National Press Club demanding arrest of the culprits.

The suspect, identified as Quwat Khan was dealing in scrap business and running a caustic soda factory in the house on a domestic connection, the SP said.

“Khan along with his family and an uncle has abandoned the house,” Afridi said that the police, however, are also investigating other aspects and reasons behind the crime. He also feared that the suspects could escape to Afghanistan.

Haji Zahir Gul, president of IESCO labour union, announced to protest against the incident on Expressway on Wednesday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, March  11^th,  2015.