People protest against 20-hour power outages

NOWSHERA
Residents took to the streets Saturday against the prolonged power outages and overbilling and asked the provincial government to take up the issue with the federal government.
Carrying banners and placards, the protesters were chanting slogans against the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) and Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).
Omar Khan, Malik Fateh Khan, Younas Butt and others were leading the protest rally.
The speakers said 20-hours power cuts had brought the routine life and business activities in the district to a complete halt.
They said the massive blackouts have led to shortage of drinking water in houses.
Criticising the provincial government, he said if Chief Minister Pervez Khattak cannot solve the problem of loadshedding then he, at least, should record protest or condemn the excesses being meted out to the people of his province.
“This will reassure the people that the provincial government is aware of the hardships being confronted by them,” he added.
The protesters demanded resignation of the Federal Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Asif and State Minister Abid Sher Ali for their failure to solve the power crisis.
arrested: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have taken measures to implement the National Action Plan against terrorism and arrested 13,144 suspects since the December 16 attack on Army Public School.
An official communiqué said the police also recovered huge quantity of arms and ammunition during search operations.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police recovered 2,028 arms and ammunition of different kinds and 42,123 rounds of different bore during the operations in various parts of the province.
During the operation, 30,259 houses and 8,017 hotels were checked and 2,724 cases registered against the violators. During snap checking at 4,726 checkpoints, 6,507 suspects were held and 448 arms of different kinds and 9,560 cartridges of different bore were also seized.
During action against illegal Afghans, a total of 2,898 people were detained on violation and 1,565 cases registered against them.
Similarly, 108 people were arrested over violation of illegal use of loudspeakers and 115 loudspeakers were confiscated while 104 cases were registered against the violators.
Security inspections of 40,129 educational institutions were also carried out and various institutions were advised to beef up security arrangements further.