Man shoots wife dead

BUNER, Feb 25: A man killed his wife over some petty issue in Jowar area of Buner on Monday.

Police said Mohammad Rehman of Choorbanda village shot dead his wife Khanzeba, mother of four, and managed to escape. Bawar Khan, elder son of the deceased, lodged FIR in Jowar police station against his father. Police initiated raids for netting the absconder.

Meanwhile, the district polio eradication committee, at a meeting on Monday, decided to ensure security of the male and female vaccinators during the upcoming anti-polio drive. DC Mohammad Ayyaz Khan chaired the meeting.

Polio teams will be provided security right from deployment centre to the field and return and pillion riding will also be banned from March 4 to 7. The meeting was informed that 181,107 children will be administered polio drops during the regular three-day campaign, while on the fourth day the absentee children will be vaccinated at homes.—Correspondent

Three injured in wolf attack

CHITRAL, Feb 25: A minor was among three persons injured by a Himalayan wolf when the animal entered their house in Melp village of Torkhow valley on Sunday evening.

A resident of the village Muhammad Ayub told Dawn the wild beast entered his house and attacked his mother and wife who fought hard to ward off the attack with sticks. But, he said they got serious injuries in the fight, adding the wolf also bite on the cheek of his infant daughter. He added neighbours made the wolf to flee and took the injured to DHQ hospital.

Meanwhile, a doctor said the minor girl and her grandmother were in critical condition due to excessive bleeding.

Villagers said wolves had been attacking humans in search of food due to heavy snowfall in upper areas. They said they abstained from killing wild animals and sought government protection against such attacks.—Correspondent

Construction of bridge

PESHAWAR, Feb 25: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engr Shaukatullah has asked the concerned authorities to construct a bridge over River Swat at Targhao valley to facilitate the people of Momand and Bajaur agencies.

The governor was being briefed on the pace of progress on development projects in Fata at Governor House here on Monday. He directed to expedite the pace of work on the development schemes to benefit the militancy hit people.

The director general projects of Fata Secretariat Syed Mazhar Ali Shah briefed the governor about the ongoing projects. Mr Shaukatullah called for constant monitoring of the ongoing projects, saying projects like Tank-Jandola-Makeen Road in South Waziristan Agency were extremely important for sustainable development and generating economic activities in the area.

He also advised the concerned authorities to expedite efforts for accelerated payment of compensation amount in lieu of the land being acquired for construction of Kurram-Tangi Dam project.—Bureau Report

Medical institutes’ registration

PESHAWAR, Feb 25: Fresh graduates from different medical colleges have expressed concern over mushroom growth of private medical colleges and demanded of the PMDC to cancel the registration of institutes not fulfilling the criteria.

Students Doctor’s Coordination Council (SDCC) chairman Dr Mohammad Ashfaq told a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday PMDC had registered a number of medical colleges, which did not fulfill basic criteria.

Flanked by other members of the council, he said it was important to bring all medical colleges under a uniformed examination system. All medical colleges, including private sector institutes, he said should be affiliated with the Khyber Medical University. He said due to low standard of such institutions the ultimate sufferers were the students who were forced to pay huge fees.

He also demanded of the Postgraduate Medical Institute to consider matric, intermediate and MBBS examinations and entry test marks of fresh medical graduates in their appointment as TMOs.—Bureau Report

Power breakdown

PESHAWAR, Feb 25: Residents of various localities faced serious problems due to prolonged power suspensions on Monday. The main sufferer was the business community, which held the government responsible for the economic instability in the country.

“The people working in different tailoring shops and auto workshops returned home without earning anything today because there was no light the whole day,” said Sharafat Ali Mubarak, central president of Anjuman-i-Tajiran.

He said the people who had the facility of uninterrupted power supply also needed electricity supply to recharge the systems.

Mr Mubarak demanded of the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the power breakdown and award punishment to those responsible for the incident. “We want judicial probe into the matter to fix responsibility,” he said.

Similarly, a number of people from different areas complained of non-availability of water in mosques and houses due to power breakdown.—Bureau Report

Driver of ill-fated bus arrested

PESHAWAR, Feb 25: Police on Monday arrested driver of the ill-fated mini-bus which drowned in Bhudni nullah on Friday causing death to 24 people with many are still said to be missing.

A police official said the driver identified only as Yaqoob was arrested from general bus stand by a raiding party. “Police were after him since the incident had taken place apparently due to negligence of the driver but he had left his residence,” the official said.

He was produced to court of judicial magistrate Zaffarullah Mohmand which sent him to jail for two weeks. He belongs to Khazana area.

Meanwhile, another source said bodies of two more children were recovered by rescuers of Pak Army raising the death toll to 24. However, an official of Rescue 1122 said the operation had been completed. “Our teams did not move to the spot and declared the operation as accomplished,” the rescue official said.—Bureau Report

‘JUI-F cannot enforce Sharia’

LAKKI MARWAT, Feb 25: JUI-Nazryati (JUI-N) central secretary general Maulana Abdul Qader Loni has said the party led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman cannot enforce Sharia in the country.

He was speaking at “America Murdabad conference” in Zangikhel village here on Monday. JUI-N deputy secretary general Mohammad Zubair Albazi, PML-LM central chairman Salim Saifullah Khan and PML-N provincial senior vice president Akhtar Munir Marwat also spoke on the occasion.

The JUI-N leader Maulana Qader said the leadership of JUI-F deviated from its manifesto of enforcing Sharia in the country and asked the people especially JUI-F workers to join JUI-N. The sole aim of Maulana Fazlur Rehman is to reach the corridors of power by hook or by crook,” he claimed.

He said religious leaders having fond of luxurious life could not enforce Islamic system. “The ulema living in luxurious bungalows and addicted to VIP culture cannot bring Islamic revolution nor can they serve the religion with true spirit,” he maintained.—Correspondent