SHANGLA: The Shangla police have arrested seven members of a jirga, including a prayer leader, in a swara case.

Police spokesperson Umar Rehman told reporters on Sunday that the Dandai police station made the arrests after registering cases against nine persons on Saturday over the complaint of a 12-year-old girl, who had been given in swara on the orders of a jirga in Takhta Dandai area of Bisham tehsil.

He said a boy namely Ibadur Rehman, 19, had illicit relations with a girl, and when the local people came to know about it, they held a secret jirga on Friday, in which the girl was engaged to Ibadur Rehman.

The jirga also gave Rehman’s younger sister in swara to a teenage boy of the girl’s family, and also imposed Rs100,000 fine on his family.

Police spokesperson Umar Rehman said a prayer leader, Maulana Umar Habib, had solemnised the Nikah of the 12-year-girl given in swara.

He said the police after registering case on the complaint of 12-year-old swara girl arrested seven persons. They included Maulana Umar Habib, Ahmed Jan, Taj Malook, Shahi Aman, Bakht Munir, Fazal Mabood and Tabih Rehman.

He said efforts continued to arrest two more jirga members nominated in the case.

SHO Mohammad Afzal Khan said investigation into the case continued and justice would be provided to the complainant girl.

Meanwhile, district police officer Rahim Shah Khan through a notification placed ban on bringing licensed or unlicensed weapons to jirga across Shangla.

The notification was issued on Sunday in the wake of recent tragic incidents in different districts.

The notification mentioned that jirgas would be allowed only in mosques.

It said all the sub-divisional police officers and heads of police stations had been directed to implement the order across the district, and prevent holding of jirgas in hujras and other public places except mosques.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2021