MANSEHRA: Deputy inspector general of police, Hazara division, Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur has said the administration was in contact with the elders of both Palas and Puttan tehsils to ease tensions in Kohistan after the Peshawar High Court canceled the district’s bifurcation lately.

“The police and army personnel are present in the area to handle any emergency. At the same time, we’re in contact with local elders through jirgas to settle tensions over the court’s decision to end the bifurcation of Kohistan. Both sides should respect the court’s verdict,” Mr. Gandapur told reporters at press club on Wednesday.

DPO Ahsan Saifullah and ASP Sonia Shimroz Khan were also present on the occasion.

The DIG said the police were deployed on the roads leading to Puttan from Palas and that the police and district administration was vigilant to cope with any situation and was working on a plan to ease tensions between both parties.

He said the Kohistan deputy commissioner and district police officer held a jirga with elders and people of both Pales and Puttan tehsils separately and that both sides agreed to settle the issue through a grand jirga. “I’m optimistic that the situation wouldn’t go out of control,” he said.

Mr. Gandapur said the people of Puttan and Pales should respect the Peshawar High Court’s verdict and that the latter had moved the Supreme Court for review.

“As legal proceedings are in progress, both sides should exercise restraint,” he said.

The DIG said the jirga system had been enforced in Kohistan for centuries and that it was highly important tool to settle tribal conflicts and therefore, the administration stepped in to ease tensions through dialogue.

He said Mansehra police faced a shortage of police personnel due to the rapid increase of population and a huge influx of people from other parts following the 2005 devastating earthquake.

“We have hired the services of 175 ex-servicemen for Mansehra, the biggest district in Hazara division, to address the problems caused by manpower shortage,” he said.

Mr. Gandapur said more policemen would be deployed in Mansehra as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor would pass through here.

He said the city police station would be divided into three police stations to check crime especially the one seen on the streets.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2016