MANSEHRA: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl has complained that the police are not giving it a copy of the FIR registered against its leader, Mufti Kifayatullah.

It demanded of the government to make the contents of the FIR public.

“We approached the police many times for a copy of the FIR against Mufti Kifayatullah but they didn’t give it to us. Instead, the police are pressuring us to produce him by using threats,” JUI-F provincial senior vice-president Hidayatullah Shah told reporters after chairing a meeting here on Wednesday.

He flayed the police’s raid on Kifayatullah’s house and arrest of his brother, brother-in-law and two sons.

Mr Shah said it was the constitutional right of Mr Kifayatullah to have a copy of the FIR registered against him.

He claimed that Kifayatullah had never spoken against the state and its institutions.

Meanwhile, Mujeebullah Khattak, lawyer for Kifayatullah, told reporters that he would move the court against the denial of FIR copy.

A local court granted bail to a son and brother-in-law of Mr Kifayatullah, who were arrested by police under Section 212 of the PPC.

Civil judge Sajjad Khan ordered the release of Shabbir Kifayat and Qari Abdul Majeed after hearing arguments of both the sides.

The police also freed the JUI-F leader’s other two family members.

COVID POSITIVITY: The district administration has claimed that its efforts have reduced the coronavirus positivity rate from nine per cent to 4.62 per cent.

Dr Qasim Ali Khan told reporters here on Thursday that the administration had strictly enforced all possible measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 and therefore, the district’s performance in the fight against virus topped the government’s weekly scorecard.

He said once Mansehra had the highest coronavirus positivity ratio in the province but micro-lockdowns and strict enforcement of social distancing and use of face masks in public places brought it down tangibly.

REMEMBERED: Teachers and students of the Helping Hand Institute of Rehabilitation Science remembered Dr Imtiaz Ali, who suffocated in his native Bachigram village in Swat district the other day.

A condolence reference was held at the HHIRS, where Dr Imtiaz completed his Doctor of Physical Therapy course from and worked as a faculty member.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2021