Power operator alleges magistrate forced citywide blackout:Said ‘cut everyone’s power until mine is restored’, residents protest in Chitrakoot

People in Chitrakoot, Satna district, faced a second consecutive night of blackout after a dust storm disrupted power supply across the town. Although electricity was restored after hours of repair work, 3 individuals allegedly got the entire city’s power supply shut down again while demanding restoration of electricity at their own homes. The prolonged outage caused severe inconvenience amid intense heat and humidity, with residents facing water shortages and other difficulties. It is alleged that one of the people who reached the substation and forced the shutdown was a judicial officer. The substation operator claimed that the magistrate insisted that electricity across the city should remain disconnected until power was restored at his residence. Bhaskar attempted to contact the magistrate for his response to the allegation, but could not establish contact. The power supply of the entire Chitrakoot was disrupted due to the storm According to electricity department officials, a dust storm that struck around 1 am on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday disrupted power supply across Chitrakoot. After repair work was completed, electricity was restored at around 5:45 pm on Friday, but the relief proved short-lived. Operator’s mobile snatched, lights turned off under threat Shortly after power supply resumed, three individuals allegedly arrived at the 33/11 KV Rajoula substation. They are accused of threatening operator Pankaj Sen, snatching his mobile phone and occupying the substation premises. Following the confrontation, power supply from Rajoula was disconnected again, plunging the town back into darkness. People’s anger erupted, reached the power house and created a ruckus Continuous power cuts led to a water crisis in several homes, while inverters also ran out of charge. After waiting nearly 18 hours and receiving electricity for only about 15 minutes, residents lost patience. A large number of people gathered at the Rajoula power house and staged a protest against the outage. Demand to register a case against those who shut down electricity As the crowd swelled, the three accused individuals reportedly left the spot. However, consumers remained firm in their demand that police register a case against those responsible for shutting down power across the city. Naib Tehsildar Kamlesh Singh Bhadauria arrived at the scene along with a police force to control the situation. Later, Junior Engineer Praveen Verma, Rajoula Electricity Distribution Centre operator Pankaj Sen and hundreds of consumers reached Chitrakoot Police Station. The operator submitted a written complaint, and police have initiated an investigation. Magistrate accused of assaulting staff In his written complaint to police, operator Pankaj Sen alleged that he was on duty at the substation on May 29 when Magistrate Ram Avtar Patel arrived at around 7:30 pm along with two police personnel. According to the complaint, the magistrate first assaulted lineman Sanjay Sen before entering the substation premises. ‘Magistrate and policemen grabbed my collar and beat me’ Pankaj Sen further alleged that the two policemen accompanying the magistrate also assaulted him. He claimed that the magistrate grabbed his collar and physically assaulted him. The complaint further states that the magistrate remained seated inside the substation and stationed the policemen at the gate to prevent anyone from entering. According to the operator, a crowd began gathering at the site around 9:15 pm, after which the magistrate left the premises. He has demanded strict action in the matter.