Two weeks after a violent attack on Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employees in Jagraon, another assault has been reported in Neelon Kalan village near Samrala. A contractual electrician, Gurmeet Singh, was reportedly attacked while disconnecting the electricity supply of a defaulting consumer with an outstanding bill of ₹ 42,990 on March 22.
Following the incident, an FIR has been registered against four assailants including Kulwinder Kaur, Davinder Singh, and two unidentified individuals, under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 including Sections 115(2), 126(2), 351(2), and 3(5) on Wednesday.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed at Koom Kalan Police Station, the victim, Gurmeet Singh, is employed as a contractual electrician with the electricity department and is responsible for power maintenance across seven villages. On March 22, senior officials directed him to remove an illegal electricity connection at the residence of Kulwinder Kaur in Neelon Kalan village. Accompanied by his colleague Jagdeep Singh, he reached the location and discovered an unauthorised power hookup. “When I questioned Kulwinder Kaur about the illegal connection, she started abusing me and called Harjit Singh, a resident of the same village. As soon as he arrived, he verbally abused me and physically assaulted me,” Gurmeet Singh stated in his complaint.
He further noted that he managed to escape and returned to the electricity office at Katani Kalan. However, shortly afterward, a Mercedes car arrived at the office at high speed, carrying three unidentified men and Kulwinder Kaur. Gurmeet Singh alleged that the group cornered him outside the office and brutally assaulted him.
{{/usCountry}}He further noted that he managed to escape and returned to the electricity office at Katani Kalan. However, shortly afterward, a Mercedes car arrived at the office at high speed, carrying three unidentified men and Kulwinder Kaur. Gurmeet Singh alleged that the group cornered him outside the office and brutally assaulted him.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, on March 11, a similar case of assault on Powercom employees over pending electricity bills emerged from Chak Bhai Ka village in Jagraon, Ludhiana, where five miscreants attacked the employees, went to recover the pending bills, leaving two injured.
The incident occurred when PSPCL employees from the Shahjahanpur office of Bassian Grid visited the village for bill recovery. At the accused Varinder Singh’s house, an outstanding bill of ₹ 8,700 was due. However, when the employees attempted to disconnect the meter, they were allegedly attacked by Jaswinder Singh, Baljeet Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur, Manpreet Kaur, and Jassu, prompting a case registered against them.
Notably, as the March 31 deadline approaches, PSPCL has intensified its disconnection drive to recover pending dues. However, the aggressive crackdown is being met with resistance, leading to multiple incidents of violence against its employees, officials said.
Commenting on the situation, Jaswinder Singh, SE Subdivision, stated, “As the number of connections is much higher than the manpower deployed to monitor errant consumers, it is difficult to ensure the safety of workers from such altercations.”