Elders ask govt to declare Torghar calamity-hit

MANSEHRA: A grand jirga in Torghar district on Thursday demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to declare the district a calamity-hit and announce a special relief package for the rain -affectees.

“Ours is the highly conservative district and consisted of over 90 percent mud and clay houses, which were damaged during the recent rains,” Maulana Safiullah, the chairman of the grand Jirga, told reporters here. He said the grand jirga members met the Chief Secretary in Peshawar and apprised him of the damage and casualties caused by the recent rains and landslide in the district. He said that the jirga also demanded the compensation money for the family whose seven members were killed in the landslide. “This erstwhile tribal belt of Mansehra district was given the status of a settled district in 2011, but even then we are still living a miserable life having no civic services,” said Maulana Safiullah.

He added that almost all roads were blocked to traffic because of the landslide during the recent rains. “We also demanded the chief secretary to execute the damage survey without any delay as the families have been living at their relatives’ houses since their own houses either caved in or destroyed partially in the recent rains,” said Maulana Safiullah. “The chief secretary assured the jirga members that he would ensure a relief package for the affected families in the district,” he added.

Probe against cops sought for registering ‘fake’ case

The residents of Chala Bagh area in Jabori on Thursday demanded the police high-ups to initiate an inquiry against the cops of Shinkiari Police Station for registering a fake first information report against those raising voice against drug peddlers in the area. “The youngsters in our area are more vulnerable to the influential drug peddlers as this mafia get those arrested who stand against them with the help of black sheep in the Shinkiari Police Station,” Khalid Khan, a local elder, told the reporters here.

Flanked by a group of locals, he said that he was the central general secretary of an organisation working for the uplift of the oppressed segments of the society and raised voice against drug peddling in Jabori and its adjoining areas. “To suppress my voice against narcotics peddling in Jabori and its suburbs, the police took my son to the Shinkiari Police Station and arrested him under charges of possessing two and a half kg of charas,” said Khan.