PESHAWAR, Jan 31: Members of the NWFP assembly have condemned the police for committing excesses against citizens across the province and admitted an adjournment motion against a raid on a former MPA’s residence in Mardan.

Speaking on the adjournment motion, Amir Rehman of the Awami National Party (ANP) said the police had not obtained a search warrant prior to the raid on Said Rehman’s residence.

Mr Rehman asked the chair to take notice of this ugly incident and referred the motion to a house committee.

Endorsing the mover’s stance, Abdul Akbar Khan of the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarians said the police had developed a habit of harassing citizens on one pretext or the other.

“This house should take notice of police excesses against the masses in general and a raid on Said Rehman’s house in particular so that police is made accountable for its wrongdoings,” he added.

Javed Mohmand of the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) also accused police of an anti-people bias and said it had evolved new methods to harass the public. He asked his government to exercise more control over the force. Another MMA MPA from Mardan, Syed Amanat Shah, however, defended the police and said the law and order situation in Mardan had now improved from what it had been some time ago.

Speaker Bakht Jehan Khan admitted the adjournment motion and referred it later to the relevant house committee to look into the matter.

On a call attention notice, Dr Zakirullah Khan of the MMA drew attention of the house to what he called unnecessary police checkpoints on the roads. Some months ago, he said, the police chief had announced that all checkpoints causing inconvenience to the public had been removed from the roads, but the police still continued with its old practice.

Food Minister Fazal Rabbani endorsed the views of Dr Zakir and accused the police of its anti-people behaviour in Shergarh town, where women were forced to come down from buses and wagons for a thorough search of their personal belongings and luggage. He said the police were causing unnecessary problems for commuters on the Peshawar-Swat road. The minister asked his own government to take notice of this high-handedness.

Rukhsana Raz of the MMA also criticised the police force and alleged that patrolling teams were providing safe corridors to smugglers operating in the province.

Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam assured the house that investigations would be conducted into the conditions described by the treasury and opposition MPAs. He, however, lauded the police for recovering a large quantity of weapons during the tenure of the MMA government.

Israrullah Gandapur and Syed Mureed Kazim of the PPP-Sherpao informed the house about a fraudulent operation of the police in Kulachi area of D.I. Khan, where the police had implicated innocent people in a gambling case and deprived them of over Rs167,000. Syed Kazim said the police had arrested them from the street and not from a gambling den.

The law minister assured them that an inquiry would be conducted into the matter. The house also adopted the NWFP Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill, 2006 and the Societies Registration (NWFP) (Amendment) Bill 2006, respectively tabled by the Local Government Minister Sardar Mohammad Idrees and Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam.

Abdul Akbar Khan of the PPP, however, opposed the amendments into the local government bill and termed it an aberration from the democratic and parliamentary traditions. He also questioned the second time presentation of the registration of societies bill in the house.

Earlier, Anwar Kamal of the Pakistan Muslim League-N through an adjournment motion drew attention of the house towards the pathetic conditions of the police forensic laboratory and police officials running its affairs. Since 1976, he said, the government had not recruited a single person in the laboratory.

Following an assurance by the law minister, the mover chose not to press ahead with the motion.

Later, the speaker adjourned proceedings till Wednesday.