LAHORE/KHANEWAL – Guards of a special adviser of Prime Minister Gilani Monday shot dead three protesters and injured another nine in Khanewal as violent protests and rioting over incessant loadshedding spread to even more areas of Punjab.A protester, raising slogans from the top of an electricity pole, was electrocuted to death in Faisalabad, while an angry mob torched three bogies of a train in Kamoke, Gujranwala. The violent protests were in fact held in almost all cities and towns of the province including Lahore, Burewala‚ Okara‚ Sheikhupura‚ Hafizabad‚ Rawalpindi‚ Jhelum, Sargodha and Gujranwala.The Nation correspondent Anjum Bashir reported that the Khanewal tragedy came as a rally of hundreds, after marching on the main roads, reached at the Civil Lines residence of Adviser to Prime Minister Ahmad Yar Hiraj and PML-Q MNA Hamid Yar Hiraj, who is also ERRA chairman.Some of the enraged protesters hurled stones at the residence and the guards resorted to firing, from the roof, straight at the demonstrators, resulting in the death of three people and wounds to nine others.DPO Khanewal Dr Muhammad Waqar Abbasi confirmed only one death and injuries to six others as police later continued shelling tear gas and using batons to disperse even more furious protesters demanding registration of FIR against the Hiraj brothers. SHO City Zulfiqar Aulakh was also reportedly injured in the clashes.Those who died were: Raheel, 17, (s/o Mohsin Ali, r/o Mian Channu), Muhammad Ali (s/o Abdul Haq r/o Timber Market Khanewal) and Imran. The injured included: Ramzana Bibi (r/o Colony No.2), Muhammad Ali (r/o Timber Market), Saqib (r/o Sanglanwala Chowk), Muhammad Abdullah (s/o Najam Din, r/o Colony No.3), Muhammad Usman (r/o Colony No.1), Umar Abbas (s/o Muhammad Ramzan, r/o Colony No1), Muhammad Shahid (s/o Ghulam Murtza, r/o Chak No.16/Venoi, and Muhammad Ali. The firing incident made the situation even tenser and the residents, particularly students and local traders who had called for the protest and had shut their business for this purpose continued their protest, demanding immediate action against the murderers. They chanted slogans against Prime Minister Gilani, President Zadari and the federal government.The Nation correspondent Jamal Nizami reported from Faisalabad that angry protestors Monday damaged 15 buildings, of private banks, shops, hotels and telecom companies’ offices, most of them located at the Canal Road and Jaranwala Road.City witnessed more than 30 protest rallies and demonstration on the day. The mobs at some places also looted goods from the damaged buildings. Police continued battling the protesters, mostly the poor loom workers, who blocked roads and pelted stones at vehicles, almost shutting most parts of the city and bringing the civic life to near halt.A protester, who was raising slogans from the top of an electricity pole, was electrocuted and died on the spot. Four police men, including a gun man of SSP Operations, were injured in the clashes and admitted to a local hospital. Police arrested some three dozen protesters from different places.In Kamoke, angry protestors set on fire three bogeys of a three dozen protesters from different places.In Sheikhupura, the traffic on both sides of the Motorway on Jandiala Sher Khan Interchange, Faizpur Interchange and Khanqah Dogran Interchange remained out of gear for about 4 hours when large numbers of angry mob reached the motorway after scaling boundary walls.Protests also took place in Gojra and Mandi Bahauddin where demonstrators blocked the main intersection. In Sargodha, angry residents of the suburban areas damaged Wapda office where police were called to disperse the crowd and control the situation. The protestors in Chakwal blocked the Lahore-Islamabad motorway. They burnt flags of a political party and chanted slogans against the government.On Sunday too, people took to blocking roads and attacking public and private properties in many cities and towns of the energy-starved province, where citizens have been facing more than 20 hours of power outages in a day.The extent and intensity of agitation in the country’s most populous province and the fact that at most places PML-N was leading these protests apparently forced President Asif Ali Zardari to take ‘notice’ Sunday night.He reportedly called in petroleum minister that night and ordered him to ensure immediate supply of fuel to privately owned power plants to help ameliorate the situation. But power situation had not seen any improvement by the next day. So, enraged people were on roads again on Monday, in even more towns and in larger numbers.Feeling the heat on Monday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called a National Energy Conference on Tuesday (today) while Power Minister Ahmed Mukhtar sought a three month period in reducing a notable intensity of power loadshedding across the country, saying the problem cannot be solved in few days.Our Staff Reporter from Lahore reported Monday that the electricity shortfall was hovering around 7,500MW while the generation stood at less than 10,000MW against the existing demand of 17,500MW.Commonly, around 650MW from the total generation goes to privately run KESC on daily basis; more than 2,000MW are being consumed by VIP feeders while over 500MW go in line losses. So, a source said, currently mere 7,000MW is available for the millions of domestic consumers of eight distribution companies of the country.The source said that LESCO, FESCO, GEPCO and MEPCO were being allocated less than 40 per cent electricity against their demands. The intensity of the crises can be gauged by the situation that more than 16 hours load shedding is hitting the provincial metropolis with consecutive power cuts on three to four hours in one go. The phone numbers of the management of the newly established Energy Management Cell were off. The Cell, however, conveyed a message for media through the spokesperson of NTDCL that besides arrangement of furnace oil, some 200MMCFD had been restored for power plants and around 2,200MW was added in the energy basket until Monday evening. It was claimed that not more than eight and 12 hours load shedding would be conducted in Punjab’s urban and rural areas respectively from Tuesday (today).
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