KHYBER: With the law and order in most parts of Khyber comparatively under control, officials said that public confidence in local police encouragingly increased as more than 1,300 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered during the last year at different police stations of the tribal district.

Though police officials were reluctant to share accurate details about the FIRs, they said that the highest number of cases, mostly related to narcotics, was lodged in Bara tehsil.

They said that Jamrud had to its share the second most number of narcotics-related FIRs while almost half of the total number of FIRs registered at Landi Kotal police station were against the illegal Afghan nationals arrested at Torkham under 14-Foreign Act.

Official sources said that tribal women too had started approaching police stations for redressal of their grievances, mostly domestic violence against them by their male family members and denial in inheritance to them.

They, however, said that they tried their level best to resolve local issues through the traditional jirga system by involving elders while strict legal action was also taken against those, who tried to take law into their hands.

They said that apart from narcotics smuggling in which a maximum number of drug dealers were booked, issues related to disputed properties and monetary disputes were the other main reasons for registration of FIRs.

Bara registers highest number of cases mostly related to drugs

Lawyers in Landi Kotal told Dawn that the number of criminal cases topped the list of the total 1,335 FIRs registered during the year 2022. Most of the criminal cases, except narcotics related, have their origins in civil matters, mostly property disputes.

Advocate Haroon Shinwari told Dawn that the extension of the judicial system to tribal districts also facilitated local people in approaching police and courts for resolution of their grievances. He said that most of the criminal cases were registered after rival parties lose their patience over a petty monetary or property dispute.

“The second important reason for approaching police stations is that almost all the police stations are now keeping a transparent record of all the FIRs and a proper investigation is conducted by police, much to the satisfaction of the complainants,” he said.

He, however, said that some civil cases were mostly registered only to annoy or frustrate the opponent.

DRUGS: Police in Landi Kotal the other day seized heroin from an empty vehicle coming from Afghanistan.

Landi Kotal SHO Akbar Afridi said that police intercepted the vehicle at Michni checkpost after receiving information about illegal drugs concealed in its secret cavities. He said that police recovered 49.8 kilograms of heroin from the vehicle and arrested driver Noorullah, an Afghan national.

Published in Dawn, january 7th, 2023