KOHAT: The police busted an inter-provincial gang of auto thieves by arresting three members in a raid at a house here on Monday.

SHO of Muhammad Riaz police station told mediapersons that they had information that the gang had come to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a stolen car from Punjab. A team was constituted which raided a house near Malik CNG station on the Indus Highway and held Shad Ali from Nowshera, Abdul Hameed of Mardan and Javed Iqbal hailing from Lower Dir.

A stolen car was also recovered from the house.

The accused told the police during interrogations that they stole cars from Punjab and after shifting them to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tampered with their chassis numbers and prepared fake duplicate papers before selling them.

They also disclosed the names of other members of the gang operating in both the provinces.

TWO KILLED: Two people were killed in different incidents here on Monday.

Police said Mehmood was killed by accused Azhar Maqsood and Ayaz in Lachi Payan. They said the killers escaped the scene after committing the crime.

The body was shifted to Lachi hospital and later handed over to relatives after postmortem examination. The police registered case and launched investigation.

In the other incident, a motorcyclist going to Lachi from Kohat was seriously injured when a passenger coach hit him on the Indus Highway. Shamsur Rehman was shifted to hospital but he succumbed to injuries. The coach driver escaped the spot leaving behind the vehicle. The police registered a case against the driver.

CALL FOR HARMONY ON CHEHLUM: Deputy Commissioner Ilyas Khalid has urged the elders of both the Shia and Sunni sects to amicably decide the allotted routes and timings of the passage of mourners’ processions to avoid any controversy during the Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA).

Chairing separate jirgas of both the communities at his office on Monday, he asked the members of a peace committee to remain on their previous points of duty and that the security forces would also be deployed at the same positions as in Ashura.

He appealed to the clerics to promote harmony, brotherhood and tolerance in their sermons. He also invited suggestions for ensuring a peaceful Chehlum.

He said once again Kohat had been declared most sensitive district by the home department, therefore, the elders should play their role in ensuring peace and calm. He said strict action would be taken against violators of the prescribed formula of observing Chehlum.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2017