BAJAUR: The All Bajaur Traders Association on Friday demanded of the local administration to increase the number of police personnel deployed in the bazaars in order to avoid any unpleasant incident ahead of and during the Eid days.

A delegation of traders led by the association’s president Mohammad Hameed Sufi made the demand during a meeting with deputy commissioner Mohammad Fayyaz Khan and district police officer Kaukab Farooq here.

The traders said the number of personnel manning the bazaars was not sufficient compared to the neighbouring districts like Lower Dir and Mohmand.

They said due to insufficient number of police personnel maintaining law and order was difficult in the urban centres.

They pointed out that prior to the merger of the tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about 30 Levies men manned each bazaar in Bajaur.

They asked the officials to increase the number of police personnel in all the bazaars, especially Khar, Inayat Kallay, Nawagai, Raggan, Pashat and Sadiqabad to avoid any untoward incident. The traders also demanded increasing the number of dealers of subsidised sugar in all the main bazaars.

Speaking on the occasion, the deputy commissioner and the police chief assured the traders of increasing the number of police personnel in the bazaars.

They also asked the traders to support the administration in checking profiteering and hoarding.

In a separate development, the Bajaur Welfare Association, a local charity body, on Friday distributed food packages among 100 needy families of different areas of Mamond tehsil.

The package comprised wheat flour, sugar, ghee, tea, syrup and other essential items. The association’s president Shah Wali Khan, while speaking at a function held in Thani area, said distribution of food packages was meant to help the poor families hard hit by inflation.

Mr Khan said his organisation was also providing financial support and free wheelchairs to the disabled persons in the district. He said the charity also planned to give food packages to scores of poor families of the region on Eidul Fitr.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2021