KOHAT: Police claimed to have busted a seven-member gang of robbers involved in depriving money changers from Darra Adamkhel tribal subdivision of cash and other items at gunpoint in July last.

ASP Nabeel Khokhar while addressing a press conference here said the victims had reported to the police that when they were coming to Kohat for exchanging money a car came in front of them at the U-turn to Kohat on the Indus Highway.

He said the robbers broke the windshield of their car and then searched the vehicle at gunpoint. They took away cash, a licensed kalakov and their mobile phones.

The police officer said a case was registered at the Mohammad Riaz Shaheed police station, adding the district police officer had constituted a team headed by SHO Fayyaz Khan to arrest the culprits.

After the effort of months, the SHO received a tip-off that the same gang was hiding in a house in Jarma and planning another crime.

He raided the hideout and held all the robbers belonging to Mardan, Malakand, Orakzai and Kohat.

ASP Khokhar said the robbers confessed during interrogation that they had been striking in other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well and had gathered in Kohat to target a jeweller.

SHUTTER DOWN CALL REJECTED: The business community turned down the shutter down call of the all Tajir grand alliance and kept their shops open on Sunday.

The strike call fizzled out when the office-bearers of the parallel traders’ body, which was duly elected last year, announced the boycott of the ongoing calls for strikes and protests.

Talking to Dawn on contact, patron-in-chief of the opponent traders’ body Ameer Khan Afridi said he had apprised the leaders of the All Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Traders Association of the fact that the Tajir grand alliance was undemocratic and had not come into power through due course of elections announced last year.

He said the incumbent union had been imposed on the shopkeepers for the last three decades and was not ready to hold elections.

He said the leaders of the Tajir grand alliance were taking the law into their own hands. He said the shopkeepers by opening their shops had expressed their hate against the timeserving group of so-called bazaar leaders.

It may be recalled that two leaders of the tajir grand alliance arrested last week were sent to prison after cancellation of their BBA on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2019