Tehsil status sought for gas-rich Shakardarra

Source Dawn

ocial and political circles of Shakardarra have demanded tehsil status for their town, saying that the government has not provided even basic necessities of life such as drinking water to the residents despite earning huge profits from the local oil and gas resources.
They said that they had formed an organisation `Sabit Qadam` to strive for getting their rights after they were disappointed by hollow promises of the administration, OGDCL and parliamentarians to solve their problems.
Speaking at a jirga, former nazim of Shakardarra Abdur Rasheed Khattak said that drinking water was being supplied to residents of the town on daily basis through tankers for last seven years and there was no permanent system. He said that work on water supply scheme had been stopped since long for unknown reasons.
He lamented that the area still did not have any college and a hospital while MPA from the area is busy launching small projects like construction of streets.
Former union council nazim Gul Rehman said that Karrappa-Shakardarra road had been damaged due to use of substandard material in its construction. He said that there was no proper drainage system in the bazaar, which turned into a pool of water during rains.
He claimed that the increasing pollution due to massive oil and gas exploratory work was causing several diseases among the residents, but the small hospital of the area lacked sufficient staff and medicines to provide them timely treatment. He demanded appointment of specialist doctors and giving tehsil headquarters hospital status to the local basic health unit.
Another political worker, Riazur Rehman, said that the district administration did not pay attention to their problems despite their protests.
He also complained that their public representatives never raised their problems in the provincial and national assemblies.
Mohammad Younis, president of the OGDCL`s contract employees, blamed the MPA from the area for their problems and claimed that he did not listen to their grievances.
A social worker, Mumtaz Hussain, said that the government had promised to construct a grid station in Shakardarra and the MPAs and MNAs were making announcements in this regard since 2007 to overcome the problem of low voltage and line losses, but the project was yet to be started.

Truck carrying weapons seized near Kohat tunnel

Source The News

Police and security forces have arrested two alleged terrorists and seized the truck laden with huge amount of weapons near Kohat tunnel which was moving from Darra Adam Khel to Karachi, Geo News reported.

According to the details, police and security forces foiled a terror bid near Kohat tunnel by recovering huge amount pf weapons from the truck.

During the operation, two suspects Muhammad Raza and Allah Bakhs, belonged to Lakki Marwat, were also arrested.

According to the police, both the suspects were taking truck from Darra Adam Khel to Karachi. Recovered weapons included 15 Kalashnikovs, 82 Pistols, 100 magazines, 7270 bullets.

MOL organizes free camp at Hoti Banda

Source Pakistan Observer

MOL Pakistan, a Hungarian company in collaboration with Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital organized a free-eye-camp at Hoti Banda, Tehsil Lachi in district Kohat to commemorate World White Cane Safety Day. The camp was part of the series of such events held by the MOL Pakistan for the welfare of the local community. MOL Pakistan has already organized three free eye camps covering three districts of Kohat Division in its TAL Block at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which benefited 2,146 patients including women and children through provision of free eye operations, services, spectacles and medicine.

In the recent free-eye camp a total of 264 patients were examined including 135 male and 129 female and 70 patients were recommended for operation. Some 256 persons were provided spectacles and 80 were referred to the hospital for advance examination. As many as 20 patients ready for operation on the spot were taken to the Al-Shifa Eye Hospital in Kohat. The aim of the camps was to provide tertiary level specialized medical care at the doorstep of the poor community of the area, besides, creating a sense of awareness in the local community for adopting healthy life styles especially, regarding eye care and to draw attention of the general public towards the problems faced by the blind.

MOL Pakistan fulfills its commitment towards the local communities through establishing schools, awarding of scholarships to students and provision of donations to flood affected people.

`Corruption` stops work on Kohat monuments

Source Dawn

District coordination officer Shahidullah Khan has stopped work on two monuments being built here at a cost Rs6.6 million due to alleged corruption and wastage of public funds.
One of the monuments is attributed to the founder of Khudai Khidmatgar Tehrik, late Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and the other to a less known leader of the movement.
Sources quoted the DCO as saying that the actual cost of the monument of a little known khudai khidmatgar, Shehanshah Wali, which was being constructed at the old bus stand chowk, was not more than Rs300,000. However, the authorities had approved Rs3.6 million from the fund of MNA Khursheed Begum for its construction.
A local leader of Awami National Party, Shahabullah, had proposed the construction of one monument in Hangu chowk having three pillars and a globe atop them with a sketch of Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
When asked about the matter, Shahabullah said that according to his proposal the sketch of the leader had to be adorned with gold and silver work and the cost of the project was calculated to be Rs3 million.
Asked about spending money on such projects, he justified it by saying that Abdul Ghaffar Khan was their spiritual and political leader and moreover it was the government of ANP in the province.
The intellectuals and majority of the people of Kohat have been demanding of the government to build a monument or dedicate any corner of university hall to the legendary poet late Ahmed Faraz and former West Pakistan chief justice late Mohammad Rustam Kayani, but such suggestions were ignored.
When the city fathers demolished the famous and historical Jinnah library and constructed a commercial plaza it forced Ahmed Faraz to remorsefully announce that he would not come to his hometown, Kohat, in his life.

Committee fails to submit report in stipulated time

Source The News

The inquiry committee formed by the chief minister to probe the case of a teenage girl reportedly kidnapped a year ago and repeatedly raped by several persons, including policemen, has failed to submit its report in the stipulated time.

The committee is working at a snail s pace while the girl, Uzma Ayub, is pleading that her life is in danger and is seeking timely justice.

On October 5, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti directed the inquiry committee headed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa home secretary and having the AIG Police Investigation and Kohat commissioner as members to submit its findings to the government within a week. But the committee took nine days to just record the statement of Uzma Ayub and her brother Alamzeb.

Sources told The News here on Sunday that the committee did complete the identification process on October 14. On the occasion, Uzma Ayub accused Station House Officers Pir Mohsin Shah and Amir Khan and Sub-Inspector Hakeem of arresting her. She also identified the other accused including Nazar Khan, Karim and Dr Iqbal.

The sources said Naseebullah, who is serving in the army and is the main accused in the case, did not appear before the inquiry committee.

Uzma Ayub informed the committee that there were some injury marks on the body of Sub-Inspector Hakeem, who according to her was one of the rapists. The committee also collected information from the accused and recorded their statements.

The police officers in their defence alleged that Uzma Ayub s brother was also involved in some cases. In reply, her brother Alamzeb presented the record of these cases and said he was charged in only one case in 2005 when one of his relatives implicated him. He stressed that he was acquitted in the case after 18 months.

Alamzeb reminded that when he along with his mother raised voice against the injustice with his sister, the police in 2010 implicated him in a mobile phone theft case and also in the case of an untraceable vehicle in Kohat. He said the police were still victimising his family for going public with the complaint against the cops. He said that those who helped their family were also being implicated in false cases.

Alamzeb claimed that the police implicated their lawyer Afsar Khan in false cases for helping their family and filing an application under Section 22A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) against the accused in the kidnapping and rape case of his sister. He said the police also tortured their lawyer Afsar Khan mentally, physically and financially. After immense pressure, he said, the lawyer abandoned the case.

It may be added that the Child Welfare & Protection Commission and CSO members from Shirkat Gah, Blue Veins, NET, SPARC, Aurat Foundation, ABKT, Khwendo Kor and CRSD are providing legal aid to Uzma Ayub and her family.

These organisations held an emergency meeting when the news of Uzma Ayub s plight appeared in the media and decided to independently probe the incident. The Child Welfare & Protection Commission and CSO members inquiry report also revealed that Uzma Ayub was innocent and had been wronged.

It demanded exemplary punishment to all the accused in the case. It is now up to the government to ensure that the inquiry committee formed by the chief minister completes its work and justice is delivered to Uzma Ayub and her family.

Hundreds protest hike in robberies in Kohat

Source Dawn

Hundreds of people on Sunday took to the streets to protest against police failure to curb increasing dacoities in the city which claimed life of a house owner recently. They blocked the main Bazaar-i-Mustafa road for several hours.
The protesters were holding placards inscribed with slogans against the DIG, Kohat region, DPO and the administration for their failure to control crimes in the Kohat city especially dacoities.
The protesters demanded expulsion of some ‘corrupt’ police officials from the district who had been serving here for several years and had ‘developed links with smugglers, gamblers, thieves and extortionists’.
The protest was addressed by former MNA Javed Ibraheem Paracha, former naib nazim of urban-I Asghar Ayub, president of Tajir action committee Haji Abid Paracha, secretary general of bazaar Israr Shinwari and other prominent figures of the city.
Javed Ibraheem Paracha said dacoits took away gold and money from the house of a retired brigadier in Muhallah Parachgan; deprived the family of Haris of 21 tolas of gold and killed the owner of a house who scuffled with dacoits three days back in the same vicinity. Similarly, in a daring attempt dacoits took away a motorcycle from inside a house of one Sajid.
He alleged that police were hand in glove with the criminals while the high ups and the provincial government were least concerned to the threats to the lives and property of the people.
Asghar Ayub gave a 3-day deadline to the police for the arrest of the killers after which they would launch an indefinite strike.

Woman, child hurt in rocket attack

Source Dawn

A woman and a child were injured in rockets fired by militants at residential area of Ara Khel in the frontier region of Kohat on Saturday night.Official sources said the militants fired five rockets at the Ara Khel village from the mountain of Darra Adamkhel town. One of it exploded at a house and injured a woman and a child who were shifted to a local basic health unit. Their names could not be ascertained.
The military retaliated by firing at the alleged hideouts of the militants in the said mountain with artillery but no damage was caused on the other side. The militants have been firing rockets in the area for the last one year, which has forced the tribal families to migrate to Kohat district.
Several tribesmen have been killed in IED blasts hitting vehicles and rocket attacks. — Correspondent