PESHAWAR: The police and security forces rounded up 434 suspicious people and 115 unregistered Afghan nationals in different parts of the province, especially Peshawar, on Thursday and Friday and seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

The arrests were made during an exercise called the joint search and strike operation.

The police and security forces also forcibly shut down several private hostels in different areas of Peshawar.

The action led the students living there blocked the University Road and thus, causing traffic jam for around an hour.

Shouting slogans against the government, the protesters said they didn’t know why their hostels had been closed and that evicting them without prior notice was an injustice.

They said they were members of poor families by and large and couldn’t afford to stay in expensive hotels.

“We were in mosques to offer Friday prayer when the police showed up and closed their hostels,” a protester said.

An official of the Town police station said nine hostels had been closed for illegal operations.

The protesters later cleared the road after the police assured them that they would resolve the problem by holding talks with the administrators of hostels.

Another official of Tehkal police station said the operation was carried out by the police and security forces around the Bacha Khan Airport and that all police stations of the city were told to carry our such operations in their respective areas.

He said the operation lasted several hours during which the police and security forces cordoned off the areas and closed roads and pathways at their entry and exit points.

According to spokesman for the police Riaz Ahmad, a total of 434 suspicious people were arrested in the province during the last two days.

He said 189 weapons, 5,516 rounds, and a large quantity of ammunition was also recovered from the arrested people.

The spokesman said during the operation, the police and security officials checked 1,617 houses and 548 hotels and registered 61 cases against violators of laws.

He said during snap checking at 161 checkpoints, 245 suspects were held over recovery of eight weapons and 257 cartridges. The spokesman said 115 Afghans were also held during the operation for living in the province without registration with the government.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2015

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