KOHAT: Another coach having the capacity of 88 passengers has been added to the Kohat-Rawalpindi railcar service, thus meeting the longstanding demand of the people.

With the addition of the new coach, the capacity of the railcar service has been increased from 792 to 880 passengers.

Station master Saleem Khan Marwat told Dawn on contact on Monday that the railcar service had been gaining popularity because it offered affordable travel between Kohat and Rawalpindi, costing only Rs380 per passenger as against the public transporters charging Rs600 per passenger.

The new coach has been added to the train thanks to efforts of State Ministry of Frontier Regions Abbas Khan Afridi as his party, PML-N, rules the centre. He was also instrumental in restarting the train service in 2018 after it remained suspended since 2013.

Mr Marwat said the Kohat railcar was one of the most profitable services of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with monthly earnings amounting to Rs7.5 million, which could be further increased by adding four more coaches.

He said the number of coaches had gradually been increased from initially four coaches to 10 now.

PUNJAB POLICE SNUBBED: The Kohat police on Monday stopped the Punjab police from ‘forcibly’ taking away a local jeweller to Attock district in connection with a robbery case.

SP operations Zahid Khan told Dawn that soon after learning about the development he directed Gumbat DSP Muzaffar Shah to stop the Punjab police personnel travelling in a car along with the jeweller at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa side of the Khushalgarh Bridge and bring them back to Kohat.

“I snubbed the Punjab police for taking away a person from Kohat to another province without completing legal proceedings and seeking permission from the district police officer,” he said.

He said the Kohat police had arrested the accused, Rehan, and locked him up in the city police station for a robbery in Jand tehsil of the Attock district.

The Punjab police said a gang had deprived people of gold jewellery in the Jand area, and the robbers arrested in the case had claimed Rehan from Kohat was also their partner.

SHO Rauf Khan said after completing all legal formalities, the accused would be handed over to the Punjab police.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2023