|| Md Tanju Ahmed, Raipur Correspondent: Residents of Udumara area in Raipur upazila, Lakshmipur have alleged that local brokers are demanding Tk 5,000 per neighborhood to restore electricity supply disrupted by a storm, claiming to act on behalf of electricity department officials. The Haiderganj Electricity Office has denied any link to the money collection and blamed extensive storm damage for the delay.A storm on May 27 afternoon caused trees to fall on multiple power lines in Udumara, cutting off electricity across the area for three days ahead of Eid. The prolonged outage has left residents facing severe hardship.Bribe allegations: Locals allege Delwar Hossain has been collecting money from households to speed up restoration. Salma Akter, daughter of Hashim Chowkidar, Delwar’s wife, and her younger brother Riaz’s wife are also accused of involvement. According to residents, they are using the names of power department officials to collect Tk 5,000 per area and have threatened that trees will not be removed from lines if payment is not made.Salma Akter told reporters over the phone that money was collected to quickly restart the line after trees fell on it, but claimed it was done at Delwar Hossain’s request.Delwar Hossain could not be reached despite multiple calls. His elder brother Jahangir said, “We contacted the electricity office several times but got no response. So people pooled money for tree removal and line restoration.”Village police member Rocky Faraji stated that money was collected on the instruction of local electrician Liton and handed to him, with assurance that trees would be cleared and power restored after payment.Electricity office denies involvement: An official at Haiderganj Electricity Office said, “No lineman from the power department can demand bribes. If anyone uses the department’s name to collect money, we will investigate and take action.” Regarding the delay, he added, “The storm caused extensive damage, so repairs are taking some time.”A lineman from the office said, “With Eid approaching, some local brokers are taking money from people. The power department has no involvement. Too many trees have fallen on the lines, which is why clearing is taking time.”Resident anger: The incident has sparked anger among locals. They claim Udumara suffers power cuts even after light rain or wind, and despite repeated complaints no permanent solution has been found. Residents are demanding the administration identify the real culprits and intervene quickly.No formal case has been filed yet, officials said an investigation will follow if a written complaint is submitted.Let me know if you want this trimmed to 120 words for a newspaper brief or need a Bangla headline version too.