Quetta: Almost two dozen armed men broke into the Zard Ghulam Jan Mangochar network on Saturday night, damaging the control room and other teams after taking the security guards and the hostages of Quetta Electric Supply Company staff (Qesco).
“Around 20 armed men attacked the 132KV grid station in the early hours, causing mass damage to the network station,” Qesco authorities said on Sunday.
The armed men snatched the rifle of 12 sentences from the security guards and destroyed the facilities while supporting staff at gunpoint. They opened fire inside the grid station, damaging the control room, the high power transformer, the current transformers, the conservative tank, the radiator tubes, the CA/CC panels, the auxiliary panels and other essential electrical equipment, according to a Qesco spokesman.
After keeping the staff the guards at gunpoint for some time, the attackers threatened them to vacate the facilities immediately or risk losing their lives. Subsequently, staff and guards fled to a safe place.
Later, Qesco officials filed a complaint in writing to the Local Police Station to file a FIR against the attackers.
Separately, some men sabotaged the 132KV Yaro industrial transmission line near Kuchlak bypass creating a technical fault with strings.
During a joint patrol operation with the local administration and the police, almost 700 m of drivers and several stolen electrical components were found.
Later, the electric company submitted a written application to the Police to follow legal actions against people behind the theft of the transmission line.
The spokesman expressed a great concern about the growing number of sabotage and robbery incidents aimed at the energy infrastructure in Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Dasht and Sibi in recent weeks. The attacks not only interrupted energy supply, but also raised a significant threat to public security and national assets, he added.
The Qesco called all consumers to help protect national infrastructure by informing any suspicious activity related to the theft or manipulation of transmission lines.
Posted in Dawn, August 4, 2025
