PESHAWAR, July 17: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government distributed Rs27 million among the families of the policemen, who were killed by terrorists in Lahore few days ago.

Each of the nine families got a cheque of Rs3 million at a gathering held in Chief Minister’s House here on Tuesday. Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti distributed the cheques among the affected families.

On the occasion, prayers were offered to seek eternal peace for the deceased, patience for the bereaved families and health for the injured.

Provincial Minister for Prisons Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, Home Secretary Mohammad Azam Khan, Inspector General of Prisons Khalid Abbas and Karak district president of Awami National Party Usman Gul Khattak were also present on the occasion. The chief minister expressed solidarity with bereaved families and said that it was responsibility of the provincial government to provide assistance to the heirs of the killed policemen.

“We wanted to offer joint funeral prayers of all of them but it couldn’t take place owing to delayed handover of the dead bodies,” he said. He added that irresponsibility of certain government officials was discussed with the Punjab government.

He said that Punjab government promised to conduct inquiry and take action against the officials found guilty. He said that an officer was transferred in that connection.

Mr Hoti said that government had not only increased the compensation amount for the families of those officials, who were killed in the line of duty, but also taken practical steps for swift payment of the amount.

The chief minister directed the home and finance department to look into the facility of risk allowance being granted in other provinces and submit a report in that regard. He also directed for review of financial assistance being provided to the injured of the incident.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Kakakhel expressed sorrow over delay in shifting of the bodies of the policemen from Punjab and stressed the need for taking steps to avoid such incidents in the future. He said that legal heirs of the killed policemen would be recruited in the prisons department. He said that prisons department would not let the bereaved family alone in that hour of need.

Mr Abbas also spoke on the occasion and said that Punjab government should also compensate the affected families as the incident occurred in Punjab.

He requested the chief minister to grant risk allowance to employees of the prisons department.

The killed policemen’s heirs, who received the cheques, included Qamar Zaman, Mohammad Fayaz, Azmat Janan and Khudai Noor from Karak, Sardar Ali and Mohammad Asif from Mardan, Shafqat Rizwan from D.I. Khan, Sharifud Din from Chitral and Mohammad Ali from Charsadda. — Bureau Report