KOHAT, July 22: The authorities, in an operation launched in Orakzai Agency, arrested more than 40 tribesmen besides blowing up several houses and shops of harbourers of criminals after the elders of the Manikhel tribe failed to surrender the dacoits involved in the shootout last week in which four people were killed, the political agent told Dawn.

A group of dacoits had killed two innocent people in an attack on a bus last week in retaliation for the killing of two members of their gang.

In the continuing joint operation in Kalaya by the levies and the militia, a house and several shops of Syed Kamil Pir were blown up by the administration for harbouring dacoits and proclaimed offenders from Kohat and other parts of the province for the past several years.

The Manikhel tribe also handed over nine elders to the administration as a guarantee to surrender the main accused, Surat Ali, in few days who had let loose a reign of terror in the area and was involved in the Friday killings besides a number of kidnappings for ransom and assassinations of prominent people.

The nephew and uncle of Surat Ali, who were allegedly involved in the killings, had been handed over to the political authorities and the tribe had given an assurance that the third accused would be surrendered on Tuesday, the political agent of the Orakzai Agency, Yousaf Khan told Dawn on Monday night.

He said the operation would continue till the arrest of the main accused, Surat Ali.

“It is for the first time in the history of Orakzai Agency that the accused tribes had been physically punished for crimes. We have suspended payment of salaries of the Maliks and levies staff of the accused Manikhel tribe, impounded their vehicles and also stopped issuing passports and identity cards under 40 frontier crimes regulations to force them to surrender the main culprit.

“The extreme steps have been taken because the ‘culprits’ also violated the centuries-old agreement under which firing or killing people on Fridays is strictly banned. Similarly, we have opened the kidnapping case of Major Musharraf and asked the harbourers involved in the case to surrender the proclaimed offender within 10 days or face consequences,” Mr Khan said while giving details of the measures being taken to curb criminal activities in the area.

He said the operation was long due to enforce the writ of the government in the area because the kidnappers striking Kohat, Hangu and Peshawar had increased their activities and considered Orakzai Agency a safe haven.

The authorities had increased checking at all the checkposts in Orakzai Agency and the roads leading to Kohat from the tribal territory besides round-the-clock patrolling of the residential areas.