SHANGLA: Alpuri tehsil council chairman Waqar Ahmad Khan on Tuesday called the council session at the main Chowk on the Bisham-Swat Road here on Wednesday (today) in protest against the district administration’s refusal to use the jirga hall for the meeting over ‘credible security’ threats.

He said the upcoming session of the tehsil council would be held at the Alpuri Chowk as his request for holding the session at the jirga hall had been turned down by the district administration.

He accused deputy commissioner Mohammad Hassan Abid of forcing them to hold the council session on the road. He said all the members of the council from parts of the district would attend the session. “The deputy commissioner would be responsible if anything bad happens,” he warned.

Mr Ahmad alleged the DC Shangla was not serving the public but a particular party’s leader. He demanded of the caretaker government to transfer the DC in the ‘best public interest’.

When contacted, the deputy commissioner told Dawn that the tehsil chairman was politicising the issue and that his allegations were baseless.

He said the administration refused to allow the council session in the jirga hall as there were ‘credible’ security threats. He said the council session could be held in the TMA hall as well.

ENCROACHMENTS REMOVED: Assistant commissioner, Alpuri, Naveed Ahmad accompanied by the tehsil municipal administration staffers removed encroachments along the Alpuri-Lilowani Road on Tuesday.

He told reporters that the operation was launched on public complaints. He said people had also dumped gravel on the roadside, which was obstructing the traffic flow.

ARRESTED: Chakisar assistant commissioner Mohammad Hamid Siddiqui got arrested a nanbai for selling low weight roti during a visit to the main bazaar on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, district police officer Sajjad Ahmad Sahibzada has directed the SHOs to expedite the search and strike operations in the areas, where terrorists could be hiding.

He issued the directives after a blast occurred in the neighbouring Torghar district on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2023