PESHAWAR, Oct 16: Two children, aged 4 and 8, have been behind the bars for the last four months on charges of drug trafficking.

They were arrested along with their mothers by the Customs mobile squad while travelling in a public transport vehicle on May 31 near Amangarh, Nowshera. As their mothers had tied the contraband around the children, therefore the kids were also booked by the Customs department.

Their bail petition was filed before the special anti- narcotics court in Nowshera, but during last many hearings the case could not be taken up for hearing due to one reason or another.

Their bail petition was filed before the special anti- narcotics court in Nowshera by Advocate Noor Alam Khan, chairman of Free Legal Aid Cell, Voice of Prisoners. The counsel has stated that the children -Saadia of 4 and Aqeel of 8- got nothing to do with smuggling of contraband and thus they should not be kept behind the bars.

The case was fixed for Tuesday, but as the concerned presiding officer was on special duty in central prison, therefore it could not be taken up for hearing. Now, the court has fixed Nov 5 for next hearing.

During last hearing on Oct 3 the Customs department had not produced the relevant record due to which the case was adjourned.

The two females -Shehnaz wife of Miskeen and Kulsoom wife of Mohammad Saleem- belong to Gujranwala and Sheikupura areas of Punjab respectively. The complainant in the case, a custom inspector, Amanullah, claimed that the ladies had wrapped 8 packets of heroin around the bodies of the two children, due to which they had also mentioned the names of the kids as accused in the FIR. The quantity of the contraband was about 4 kgs.

The two females have claimed that they had requested the Customs officials to allow them for contacting their relatives for taking away their children, but the officials did not accept their request and instead charged the two kids in the FIR.