KOHAT: The Jungle Khel police foiled a smuggling bid by recovering an arms cache from a pick-up vehicle and arresting a carrier on the Peshawar Bypass here on Thursday.

The police were checking vehicles coming from Darra Adamkhel whey they stopped a suspicious vehicle. During search, they found two Kalashnikovs, 72 pistols and 8,800 cartridges hidden in secret cavities of the vehicle.

They arrested the smuggler identified as Maazullah of Zarghun tribe of Darra. He was carrying the weapons to Dera Ismail Khan.

ECONOMIC ZONE: The office-bearers of the Kohat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) have flayed the provincial government for not announcing setting up of an economic zone in the small industrial estate in Kohat under its new industrial policy.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, KCCI president Asad Javed, former president Rasheed Parcaha and secretary general Faiq Shah pointed out that mineral and marble-rich Kurram and Orakzai tribal districts and coal-rich Darra Adamkhel tribal subdivision had increased the importance of establishment of economic zone in Kohat.

They said many new estates in the province had been given status of the economic zones under the new policy.

They said they had been asking the local lawmakers to take up the matter with the authorities concerned, but to no avail.

The KCCI office-bearers also demanded provision of cheap electricity, one-window operation and establishment of offices of all the departments concerned in the industrial estate to facilitate the investors.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2021