SWABI, Jan 4: Students of various colleges here on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration against local transporters who refused to give them pick and drop facility on previously agreed fares.

The students gathered at Topi tehsil general bus stand in the morning, but the transporters refused to pick them for their colleges on old fares and asked them to pay increased fares like other commuters.

They reminded the transporters of the agreement to pick two students on half fare in each vehicle and the remaining on full fare. However, the students said they would not pay the increased fare because it was unjustified.

The transporters’ refusal to carry the students on old fares infuriated the students, who held a protest and blocked the Swabi-Topi road for an hour. Later, officials of the district administration assured the students that action would be taken against transporters who violated the official fare list by overcharging commuters.

JI WANTS UNITY: Jamaat-i-Islami secretary general Liaquat Baloch has said that his party is trying to restore the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which will be good for the future of religious parties.

Mr Baloch was speaking to media persons on Tuesday night at the residence of Dr Kamal in Marghuz where he had gone to offer condolences over the death of his brother, Mohammad Jamil.

He said that the religious parties should take real steps for the alliance. Answering a question, he said that the JI did not demand 50 per cent share in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seats and that everything would be finalised with a consensus.

The JI insiders told this correspondent that their party wanted to ink a written agreement with other religious parties, including the JUI-F, to re-launch the alliance. They claimed that restoration of the MMA would change the scenario of the future election.

TWO KILLED: Two people were killed in separate incidents here on Wednesday, police said.

In Kalu Khan region, Jabir Khan, a businessman, was shot dead by one Aman Khan and his sons Ibrahim and Luqman, police said.

They said that Majid Khan, son of the deceased, stated in the FIR that there was a dispute between his family and the attackers over ownership of a shop. He said that Aman and his sons shot his father dead and escaped.

In Zaida city, a man was killed when two parties clashed over a land dispute. According to reports, Gul Rehman opened fire on his rival Fazal Elahi, killing him on the spot.