Landikotal elders condemn crackdown against NCP vehicles

LANDIKOTAL: Tribal elders and political leaders have threatened to launch a series of protest demonstrations if the crackdown on non-custom paid vehicles was not stopped in Landikotal.
Hundreds of vehicles were seized in Landikotal during the last one week.
Addressing a press conference at the Landikotal Press Club, elders, including Abdullah Khan, Shakir Afridi, Mustaqil Khan, Wali Muhammad, Mahmood Khan and Hussain Khan, said that it was the legal right of tribal people to use non-custom paid (NCP) vehicles in all Fata areas.
They said that Khyber Rifles officials had seized more than 200 NCP taxicabs in a crackdown conducted in various locations of Landikotal and Torkham border town.
The elders alleged that confiscation of NCP vehicles was against the law and violation of tribal rights given to them by the state. They said thousands of NCP vehicles were plying all parts of Fata.
They said the vehicles were being used as taxicabs to earn for poor families. They said tribal people had severely suffered due to militancy and had no other businesses or sources of earning.
They appealed to the chief of army staff, corps commander Peshawar and governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take notice of the illegal confiscation of their cars and help them to earn for their families in Ramazan.