January 26, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 22,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: The government registered a case against unidentified Bugti tribesmen for the sabotage of gas pipelines as supply to domestic consumers was restored on Saturday.

The Balochistan government registered the case against the tribesmen for allegedly blasting the pipeline at Rajanpur on the Punjab-Balochistan border five days ago, the spokesman for the interior ministry, Iftikhar Ahmed, told a press conference held at the ministry.

The spokesman said supply to domestic consumers was restored at 5pm and added that it would be restored for industrial units on Sunday. The CNG filling stations had also resumed operation on Saturday, he said.

In reply to a question, Mr Ahmed said: “No arrest has been made so far as the total population of the Bugti tribe is about 175,000 and it is very difficult to trace the people involved in the sabotage.”

The spokesman said the area where the gas pipeline was blasted had remained no man’s land for a long time and it was still stated to be a “crime-free zone” due to presence of dacoits and outlaws there.

The spokesman did not give any reply when asked why the chieftains of the Bugti tribe were not taken to task despite information about the involvement of their men in the blast.

The official dispelled the impression that political reasons were behind the blast, saying it had occurred due to enmity between the people of Bugti and Mazari tribes. He, however, emphasized the need for dialogue and political initiative by the newly elected government to resolve the issues of the area. “The interior ministry has sent a letter to the prime minister’s secretariat to adopt a political way to resolve the problems of the area,” he said.

It was reported in press that Mazari tribe had stolen Wapda cables, discontinuing power supply to Bugti tribe some days ago.

In reply to a question about a Jan 14 threat by the Bugti tribe that it would suspend gas supply to the Mazari tribe, the spokesman said Wapda was engaged in restoration of power supply to the Bugti tribe.

Talking about remedial measures, the official said a high-level meeting of the law enforcement agencies of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab was held at the interior ministry which took various decisions to avoid such incidents in future.

He said those decisions would be made public later.

The meeting, attended by the heads of the law enforcement agencies, decided that sufficient number of policemen and personnel of the Frontier Constabulary would be deployed along the 29-km-long portion of the gas pipeline running through the periphery of tribal areas.

“The concerned law enforcement agencies are working to know how many personnel would be required for the protection of gas pipeline.”

He said the meeting also discussed lack of basic infrastructure and civic amenities in the remote areas of Balochistan.

These facilities would be provided to the people and any hurdle in the development of the area would be removed, he said.

The meeting also decided to take several long- and short-term measures for the economic development of the area.