KOHAT: Police and security forces arrested 56 suspects including illegal Afghan nationals and a proclaimed offender during an operation here on Monday.

The operation was carried out in Ustarzai village, Mosam Khan Banda and its adjacent hilly area during which more than 200 houses were searched.

Besides the suspects, police arrested a proclaimed offender identified as Farman, who was wanted in a murder case. Police also seized huge cache of weapons and drugs. Vehicles without registration documents were also impounded.

The seizure included one repeater, two rifles, four pistols, hundreds of cartridges, seven chargers, one kilogram of hashish and five motorcycles. Police also fined 17 drivers for having tinted glasses.

The arrested persons were shifted to Usterzai and Bilitang police stations for further interrogation.

Likewise, police checked more than 200 houses during the operations and lodged two cases for violation of the tenant Act against those, who had not registered themselves with the local police.

ROADS: MPA Ziaullah Bangash has asked the forest department to immediately remove trees from the under-construction roads as these are delaying work and causing problems to commuters.

The MPA, accompanied by Shakir Pervez, assistant director of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority, Israr Khattak, SDO communication and works, and district councillors visited the bypass, Bannu and MP Gate to Gulshanabad roads. He inspected work on Jarma Bridge and asked the officials not to compromise on the quality of work.

The MPA was told that due to the non-cooperation of the forest department, construction work was being hampered because despite reminder it had failed to remove trees from the under-construction roads.

The tehsil municipal administration had called the officials of forest department to remove the trees as early as possible but so far the orders had not been implemented for unknown reasons.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2016