MANSEHRA: The police and security forces on Monday seized explosives, bomb-making material, army uniforms and suicide vests at the house of a slain candidate for the district council Batagram.

The seizure was made on a tip-off two days after Sher Mohammad was found dead in Buttal area of Mansehra district under mysterious circumstances.

The deceased had submitted nomination papers for the May 30 elections of the Batagram district council from Allai tehsil.

Deputy superintendent of Allai police Bazmir Khan told reporters that suicide vests, army uniforms, nine kilogrammes explosives and bomb-making material, including 100 meters of wire, ball bearings, batteries, adhesive material and electric and manual detonators, two cellphones with Sim cards and remote controls were seized during a raid on the house of Sher Mohammad in Cherain Kala area.

He said the raid was conducted by a joint team of the police and security forces.

“We have begun investigation after registering an FIR against the owner of the house. We will also probe if explosives were to be used for terrorism,” he said.

Another police official said investigators would also examine if Sher Mohammad had links with terrorists.

He said the Buttal police had widened the scope of investigation into the killing of Sher Mohammad after his mother approached them for registration of FIR.

The official said the woman told the police that her son left home on April 30 after being called by unidentified persons over the cellphone but didn’t return.

When contacted, investigation officer of the police Mohammad Amjad said the woman was called to record statement in the case but she didn’t show up.

He said the woman would be produced before the local court for the recording of statement if she contacted the police yet again.

JUI-F FORECASTS ELECTION WIN: JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan on Monday claimed that the tri-party alliance of the opposition would sweep the May 30 local body elections in the province.

“The PTI stole the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa people’s mandate given to us in the 2013 elections and the coming local body elections will expose that rigging with our three-party alliance emerging as the winner,” he told reporters in Dassu (Kohistan).

JUI-F provincial deputy chief Maulana Attaur Rehman, general secretary Shujaul Mulk and other leaders were also in attendance.

Maulana Gul Naseeb said the PTI had miserably failed to address the people’s problems, so its claim of sweeping the upcoming local body polls was false.

He declared the Jamaat-i-Islami the PTI’s ‘B team’ saying the Sirajul Haq-led party was in the forefront to protect the weakening provincial government.

“The JI joined and left the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal at the behest of hidden forces and joined a secular party (PTI) at the behest of the same forces,” he said.

The JUI-F leader said Kohistan was a stronghold of the JUI-F and the coming local body elections would confirm it with the party emerging as the winner in the district.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

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