PESHAWAR, Oct 8: Due to pressure of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s provincial government, the local police are avoiding to arrest the activists of the Shabab-i-Milli, accused of ransacking signboards in the city during its so-called anti-obscenity campaign about five months ago.

A high-ranking police officer said that they could not arrest the culprits as it would annoy the provincial government.

On May 23, the activists of the Shabab-i-Milli, the youth wing of Jamaat-i-Islami, in a campaign against obscenity tore down over four dozens big-size hoardings depicting women’s picture.

The next day, Gulbahar police registered an FIR against eight activists of Shabab-i-Milli and JI, but the police did not arrest any of them and they are still at large in the city.

The NWFP government, which should have ordered immediate arrest of the accused, suspended three officials, including the then SP city Zafarullah Khan, Abdul Kalam and Abdul Samad, the SDPO and SHO of Gulbahar police station respectively, making them scapegoats.

However, eight days ago, the NWFP government reinstated the services of three suspended police officials.

Even the federal government transferred the NWFP chief secretary Shakil Durrani and sent IGP Saeed Khan to home just before his superannuation retirement on the allegation of their failure to control the mob on that day.

“These accused will be arrested on an appropriate time,” a senior police official commented. He said that the police could not arrest them during the MMA government. But the federal government was monitoring activities of the MMA and its activists and on certain time, the issue would be raised again, he opined.

The police in an attempt to appease the MMA government violated all the rules and they neither arrested them nor properly sent the case to the court.

According to the law, the investigation officer has to arrest the accused nominated in the FIR and to place challan of the case before the concerned court within 14 days.

If the accused are absconding then the police have to approach the court which has the powers to declare a person proclaimed offender after fulfilling legal requirements under section 87 of the Criminal procedure Code.

But the police violated all rules and still reluctant to apprehend the violators during the government of six religious parties’ alliance.