MANSEHRA: Two people, including a woman, were killed and 10 others suffered injuries when a Gilgit-bound passenger coach rammed into a truck in Battle area here on Tuesday.

The accident occurred after the driver lost the truck’s control on the steep slope.

The driver fled.

The deceased, including Nazik Sultan Bibi of Gilgit and Janan Khan of Chelas, rode the coach, which was bound for Gilgit from Rawalpindi via the Karakoram Highway.

The bodies were shifted to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, while the injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

However, families took the bodies away after refusing their postmortem.

The police registered an FIR and began search for the fleeing coach driver.

CRACKDOWN DEMANDED: The residents of Baffa area have demanded of the police to crack down drug peddlers.

The demand was made during an open kutchery organised by the police at the Government Higher Secondary School, Baffa, on Tuesday, where the district police officer was in attendance.

Local PTI senior vice president Javed Humayun complained that drug dealers were operating in the area without let or hindrance and thus, harming the health of local residents, especially youths.

He demanded strict action against drug pushers.

Councillor Iqbal Jahangir complained that the building of Baffa police, which was to be shifted out of town after the 2005 earthquake, should be relocated to the benefit of the people, especially those living in far-off areas.

The participants also demanded the deployment of policemen outside the girls schools and colleges to prevent the students’ harassment.

The DPO told them that the police had arrested 150 drug pushers and would continue with the crackdown.

He said the newly-introduced digital system had enabled the police to monitor the activities of more than 6,500 local residents, who were convicted or acquitted in criminal and other cases during the last two decades.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2018