LAKKI MARWAT: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Mufti Abdul Shakoor, who died in a road accident in Islamabad on Saturday evening, was laid to rest at a graveyard in his native Tajbikhel Betanni area of Lakki Marwat on Sunday.

MNAs Maulana Mohammad Anwar and Mohsin Dawar, former chairman Islamic Ideology Council Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, Bannu division commissioner Parweiz Sabatkhel, regional police officer Syed Ashfaq Anwar, deputy commissioner Abdul Hadi, government officials and thousands of people from different walks of life attended his funeral prayers.

Hailing from Lakki Marwat, Mufti Shakoor was a vocal JUI-F leader and was known for his fiery speeches against his political rivals, especially the PTI.

The federal minister had died in a road accident in Islamabad

He had won the National Assembly seat of NA-51, which comprises six former frontier regions, in the 2018 general elections from the platform of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, defeating a PTI candidate.

He left behind two widows, two daughters and a son to mourn his death.

Moving scenes were witnessed when Mufti Shakoor was laid to rest next to his mother’s grave.

Born on January 1, 1968 to a conservative religious family in Tajbikhel village, he received his primary education locally, and went to the famous Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Akora Khattak, for his religious studies. He obtained his Masters in Islamic Studies from there in 1993.

He also studied at the famous Shah Waliullah Academy in Hyderabad and did his Masters in Philosophy from there as well.

In 2002, he was appointed as Khateeb of a Jamia Masjid in Palosai area of Peshawar.

OPERATION: The police and security forces launched a joint search and strike operation in the riverine area of Lakki Marwat on Sunday following reports about movement of miscreants there.

An official said the crackdown on anti-state elements in the trans-river belt was meant to maintain peace during the ongoing five-day polio eradication campaign.

He said policemen engaged in polio eradication imitative had fallen prey to the attacks by terrorists in the past.

He said large contingents of police and army led by district police officer Mohammad Ashfaq Khan searched the suspected hideouts in Kaichi Kamar, Samandi, Ghati Michenkhel and Wanda Shahabkhel areas.

He said the law enforcers also checked the data of suspected villagers.

DPO Ashfaq said the operation was aimed to maintain peace and order in the area bordering Karak and Mianwali districts.

The rural localities of Kurrum Par area had witnessed a surge in attacks on police in the recent past.

In January this year, the Pakistan Army and police had launched a joint search operation against terrorists in the forests, locally called Darga, along the Kurrum River near Lakki Marwat city.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2023