Several towns experienced power outages due to the collapse of a high-voltage electricity transmission tower in Khanoth, Jamshoro district.
The 500kV grid station in Jamshoro to Dadu power line is affected; however, there are conflicting accounts about what caused the incident.
According to local sources in the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), the electric pylon collapsed at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday in Khanoth, about 40 kilometers from Jamshoro, as the thieves allegedly stole the braces holding the pylon in place.
However, the local newspaper ‘Dawn’ reported that the incident happened when unidentified criminals targeted the tower with a bomb blast.
Imran Qureshi, the senior superintendent of police (SSP) in charge of Jamshoro, informed ‘Dawn News’ that two scrap dealers had been detained in addition to the theft’s perpetrators.
He claimed that the recovered stolen braces and the rickshaw used to transport the braces had also been seized. He added that the police were conducting raids to apprehend the other suspects.
Following the incident, police and NTDC representatives hurried to the scene. A bomb disposal team also visited the area.
Zulfiqar Solangi, the NTDC official in charge of Jamshoro, confirmed that following the theft of millions of rupees’ worth of braces, Tower No. 71 collapsed.
He added that the Jamshoro police had been informed of the situation and would take two to three days to complete the repairs.
