TIMERGARAH, May 7: The chairman of the Dir-Lower peace committee has called upon the provincial government to take immediate action against gangs of criminals operating in the area. Otherwise, he said, the committee itself would launch an operation against them.

Speaking at a news conference in Timergarah Rest House on Sunday, Maulana Fazlullah Roghani alleged that the criminal mostly belonged to adjoining Sakhakot. He said the government had failed to recover millions of rupees in ransom extorted by the gangsters from 33 people they had kidnapped in the province.

The Maulana said the captives had no option but to pay ransom as they had been threatened to be killed by the perpetrators.

He said police were paying no heed to public complaints and the incidents of kidnapping for ransom, car theft and murder had registered a marked rise.

PPP’s district president Malik Azmat Khan and ANP’s Shamsul Qamar was also present on the occasion.