KOHAT: Disappointed by the results of campaigns against eliminating the menace of drugs by successive administrations, district police officer Javed Iqbal has ordered expulsion of drug peddlers from the district.

A statement issued from the office of the DPO said that 11 drug peddlers, who would be expelled as the first ever batch, were held with a huge quantity of drugs by the Bilitang, Gumbat and Riaz Mohammad Shaheed police stations from various parts of the district on Saturday.

They arrested drug peddlers included Zafar Khan, Jalil Khan, Mir Rehman, Syed Sabir, Aftab Ahmed, Abdur Raheem, Hafat Mir, Sher Khan and Said Badshah. The police parties recovered 12 kilogrammes of hashish from their possession which was either carried by them or hidden inside their shops.

Vows zero tolerance for drug abuse

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, the district police officer said that he was confident that by adopting zero tolerance against the drug abuse they would control it to a great extent. Unfortunately, despite arresting hundreds of drug peddlers during a special three-month campaign the problem stands at the same level at which it was at the time of launching it, he said.

Mr Iqbal said that drug peddlers were released by the courts on bail or freed after a few months of trial and they resumed the business again due to huge profit margins. Moreover, he elaborated, Darra Adamkhel and Orakzai Agency had porous borders with Kohat district. In these tribal areas, many people rely on cultivation of hemp and opium for their livelihood and selling it to the local retailers in Kohat, the adjacent settled area.

“The tribal areas are not my domain, but are directly affecting my district and spoiling efforts to stop smuggling,” he said.

CLEANLINESS: Social and political circles of Ghulam Banda and Bilitang areas have appealed to the Kohat commissioner to order the tehsil municipal administration, Kohat, for removal of heaps of garbage and clean drains before Ramazan. The elders of Ghulam Banda also requested the commissioner to ensure implementation of his orders to the revenue official concerned for early demarcation of land to avoid clashes between the tribes.

The elders of Bilitang critisised the TMA for heaps of garbage scattered everywhere though it collected millions of rupees in tax every year. According to an agreement between the new Turkish-funded sanitation company and TMA the former was responsible for cleanliness in six wards of the city and the latter for rural areas.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2017