Punjab State Electricity Board engineers have demanded special police security outside their complaint centres and also when the team is out in the field to detect power thefts.

The decision was taken by the PSEB Engineers’ Association on Tuesday in view of the recent attacks on senior superintending engineer Amrik Singh in

Amritsar and executive engineer Arvind Singh in Kapurthala.

Both the engineers of the board had found farmers stealing electricity to run tubewells. While Amrik Singh was attacked while Arvind Singh was kept in illegal confinement by the farmers.

The association, in its meeting, said the laxity shown by the district administration in the case of assault on Ludhiana tehsildar Gurjinder Singh Benipal has encouraged such anti-social elements.

Ludhiana PSEB deputy chief engineer H S Randhawa said: “The recent incidents have given rise to a sense of insecurity among our officers.”

The engineers, meanwhile, admitted that they were facing the ire of consumers due to long power cuts which are now being imposed during night hours too.

Deputy chief engineer (Suburban) P S Gill added: “Our enforcement team fears attacks and even the farmers often exchange heated arguments with us regarding less supply during the paddy season. In the past too, they have gheraoed our officers and damaged a few complaint centres.”

Power crisis

City reels under 10-hour cuts
The scheduled and unscheduled power cut in the city on Wednesday exceeded 10 hours, including the night cuts. Residents complained that apart from diesel shortage, they were not even being able to charge their invertors. In Gill Road and Basant Park, where majority of small scale industries are located, the Board has agreed to impose a 5-hour power cut from 7 am - 12 noon. Industrialists, however, said they want a 4-hour cut after June 30 while the weekly-off on the industry should also be reduced from two days to one day.