KHYBER: Police in Bara have arrested two cops for their alleged involvement in a grenade attack on the house of a village council chairman two days ago for extorting money from him.

A statement issued from the office of the district police officer at the Police Lines in Shah Kas, Jamrud, said that the arrest of the two policemen was made after an uproar on the social media about their alleged involvement in the Thursday night’s grenade attack on the house of Eng Arifullah in Nawagai Baba locality of Shalobar.

It said that an investigation committee had been formed under the SP investigations to probe the involvement of the policemen in the incident.

Meanwhile, sources in Bara said that some unknown men were demanding extortion money from Eng Arifullah and had also threatened him with an attack on his house if he didn’t do so.

They said that on Thursday night some unidentified men tried to lob a grenade at the house of the VC chairman, but the explosive device went off in their own hands, causing them injuries.

One of the injured persons was later identified as constable Abdul Qadir, hailing from Bar Qambarkhel area of Bara, who was shifted to a hospital by his colleagues posted at a nearby checkpost.

Initially, the local police tried to cover up the matter while insisting the constable was injured during routine patrolling in the area, but failed to explain what actually caused him injuries.

Local sources alleged that the arrested policemen were hands-in-glove with a local group of extortionists, who were involved in extorting money from number of people in Bara, mostly traders, political and social activists and government contractors.

Bara Siyasi Ittehad, which has been at the forefront against rising cases of extortion and targeted killing for last few months, had demanded an impartial enquiry into the incident and awarding exemplary punishment to those found guilty of such crimes.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2023