KOHAT: The police arrested 33 workers of different political parties the other day as they were nominated in FIRs for allegedly disrupting the voting process during the local government elections held on May 30.

Officials said that the police of Shakardarra, Lachi and Bilitang and polling staff of five polling stations of Dheri Banda had registered cases against 482 supporters of political parties for taking away ballot boxes and making hooliganism. As a result of disturbance, polling had to be suspended several times.

They said that police had warned that the remaining accused should hand themselves over otherwise they would be declared proclaimed offenders. A candidate for tehsil council, Mohammad Amin of Dheri Banda, was also arrested and taken to prison by the police for violating Section 144.

The local election commission officials had already withheld the result in several polling stations of Shakardarra where the candidates took ballot boxes forcibly from the staff and escaped.

Cases have been registered against 482 supporters of political parties

Polling would be held again in these polling stations and in Dheri Banda.

NEW FRUIT MARKET: The traders here have again ignored a warning by the administration that action would be taken against them if they failed to shift to the new government fruit and vegetable market, constructed at a cost of Rs70.65 million.

Despite its inauguration seven years ago, the business community is hesitant to occupy shops in the new market due to its long distance from the main bazaar and unavailability of cold storage facility there.

The commissioner and deputy commissioner had inaugurated the market twice to lure the businessmen to the new place.

Officials told this correspondent that the contractor had escaped to Punjab, leaving the market incomplete, while the tehsil municipal administration was not in a position to complete the project.

ALLEGED EXTORTIONISTS HELD: The police on Monday arrested two alleged extortionists belonging to tribal area for demanding money from businessmen in the name of banned TTP.

A man who had returned from Saudi Arab told the Riaz Khan Shaheed police that he had been receiving anonymous calls to donate Rs1 million for the TTP, otherwise he would be killed. Police said that the complainant’s name was kept secret for security reasons.

The police while tracking the mobile numbers conducted raids at various places and arrested a tribesman, Ibraheem Khan, from new bus stand area and another from Shahpur village, and shifted them to unknown location.

The police registered case against the accused and launched further investigations.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2015

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