Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, Mar 6: The residents from Budhal and adjoining areas, today locked AEE, a Junior Engineer and two other staff members of Power Development Department (PDD) and held strong protest against the department.
The people in large number assembled in the town and launched protest after a team of PDD led by an AEE reached Budhal town and they allegedly started breaking bulbs installed outside the private shops and other locations in the main bazaar. When the traders and others objected they had exchange of hot arguments and claimed that it added additional load on the system.
The team led by AEE Jitender Kumar Raina had been deputed by the Executive Engineer M&RE Rajouri to Budhal to conduct inspection. The action of PDD staff irked the locals who alleged that electricity is made available hardly for few hours in the area and long bills have been served to them by the department as flat rates. The PDD staff was harassing public to foot exhorbitant bills for no power supply to them. They alleged that at Bathan village there was no power for the last 7-8 months and at Falni village, the electric transformer was out of order for one and half month. The people have refused to pay for no power supply. Upon this, the PDD officials asked public to reach Dak Bungalow for meeting and discussion.
When the people led by local leaders Farooq Inqlabi, Sarpanch, Khalil-ur-Rehman and Manzoor Malik reached Dak Bungalow, they kept waiting for the PDD officials. They got agitated after nobody came outside to talk to them after long wait. The people then put a lock at the door at around 1.30 pm and locked them. They started staging protest against them. The protest continued there for about two hours and they shouted slogans against them.
Later, SHO reached with policemen and rescued the AEE, JE and his staff. Then with the mediation of SHO the issue was resolved and the PDD officials tendered apology to the people. He also assured to install new transformer at Falni which also reached the village late this evening.
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