LAKKI MARWAT: Reiterating the provincial government’s strong resolve to eradicate polio, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary Nadim Aslam Chaudhry has asked the relevant authorities to discourage and curb fake finger marking, identify weaknesses and shortcomings to improve the quality of anti-polio campaigns.

He was speaking at a high-level meeting held at the commissioner’s office in Bannu the other day.

The chief secretary along with provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan visited the district to review progress of the ongoing polio drive in Bannu and Lakki Marwat.

Divisional commissioner Parweiz Sabatkhel briefed the meeting about the updated situation of polio cases in the region and said the divisional and district administrations with support of other stakeholders and partner organisations were actively engaged in containing poliovirus.

Mr Chaudhry said poliovirus found in sewage samples in Pakistan had been linked to the poliovirus cluster circulating in Afghanistan, and urged the need for concerted efforts from both sides to root out the disease.

He asked the authorities to ensure administering anti-polio drops to every child. “No one wants his child to be disabled, so parents should be convinced to avoid boycotting anti-polio drives or linking them with fulfilment of their demands,” he maintained.

The chief secretary directed to formulate a workable strategy to remove deficiencies emerging during polio eradication campaigns.

GANG BUSTED: The police claimed the other day to have busted a gang of power transformer thieves and arrested its two members during a raid in Naurang town of Lakki.

An official said they began tracing the gang when incidents of transformer theft were reported to Shaheed Asmatullah Khan police station.

He said a resident, Mohammad Sadiq of Mamakhel lodged a complaint, claiming unknown thieves had taken a transformer from his locality.

“A police party supervised by DSP Ismail Khan and led by SHO Riaz Khan arrested Umar Khan and Fidaullah,” he maintained. He said the men disclosed they were involved in transformer theft. “On their identification, the police recovered transformers and their spare parts.”

Separately, three people, including a teenage girl, were killed in different incidents in Bannu the other day.

Police said Zeba Bakhtiar, 18, was killed by her sister-in-law inside her house over a family dispute in Shah Jehan Shah Shaikhani area.

Mir Afzal Khan, father of the deceased, said he had gone to Hinjal area to earn livelihood when he received information about the murder. He said his daughter was killed with a firearm inside her room. He alleged his daughter-in-law, Gulshan Bibi was involved in the murder.

Also, Zakirullah, 24, was shot dead by rivals over murder enmity in Shadev area.

The police registered a case on the complaint of the deceased’s uncle, Atlas Khan.

In another incident, Faseehullah, 16, committed suicide in Karak Paindakhel area.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2023