MANSEHRA: A couple died after its motorcycle fell into a ravine in Batrassi area here on Friday night.

Abdul Qayyum, 60, and Sajila Bibi, 23, were on the way to Mansehra from Muzaffarabad when the incident occurred.

The police said the woman was Abdul Qayyum’s second wife.

Mohammad Nayyar of the Garhi Habibullah police station said the police were trying to ascertain the cause of the incident.

“We’re investigating if the motorcyclist was to blame or the motorcycle was hit by speeding car before it fell into the ravine,” he said.

The policeman said Abdul Qayyum was a schoolteacher and that he had married to Sajila, his second wife, five months ago.

He said the parents of Sajila were settled in Mansehra. The family got the bodies after they were autopsied at the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital.

The police began investigation into the incident after registering an FIR.

ARMS SMUGGLERS HELD: The police on Saturday arrested three smugglers and seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunitions here.

“We have arrested three arms smugglers and recovered modern arms and ammunitions from their possession,” DSP Zulfiqar Khan Jadoon told reporters here.

SHO of the City Police Station Raja Aftab was also present.

Jadoon said on a tip-off, the police intercepted a car in Gujjar Gali area and seized five pistols and a repeater gun and took Inar Gul and Nazir Khan of Peshawar into custody.

He said the police later raided a bungalow in Gazikot Township on the intelligence gleaned from the arrested men, seized three kalashnikovs, 11 pistols and over 3,000 bullets and held Abdul Nazir of Shangla.

The DSP said the arrested men were involved in supplying illegal weapons and ammunitions to people and arms dealers in Mansehra, Abbottabad and other parts of Hazara division.

He said district police officer Khurram Rashid had announced cash award and appreciation certificates for the policemen, who arrested smugglers.

Jadoon said the arrested men would be produced before a local judge for physical remand on Sunday.

He said the police were making every effort to plug major arms supply routes in Hazara to check weapon and ammunition smuggling.

The DSP said smuggled weapons were used for criminal activities.

Published in Dawn, August 31, 2014