KOHAT: Thieves took away over 350 solar batteries affixed on poles on Rawalpindi and Hangu roads and in the family park.

Kohat Tehsil Municipal Officer Mohammad Shoeb told Dawn on Wednesday that the cost of each solar system with battery and plates ranged from Rs35,000 to Rs40,000.

He said it remained a mystery as to how the thieves climbed the poles, opened the boxes and took away the batteries. He said in some areas they had installed new solar systems after thefts. He said the municipal body had got registered cases in the police stations, but the thieves were yet to be arrested.

Meanwhile, the Jarma police on Wednesday arrested two persons and seized a non-custom paid car from them.

SHO Fazal Mohammad said the vehicle was being smuggled from Waziristan to Swat through the Kohat-Bannu route. He said the worth of the vehicle was Rs3.5 million in the open market.

SHO Fazal Mohammad said acting on an intelligence report they stopped a suspicious car at a barricade. He said checking of the vehicle’s chassis, engine numbers and papers showed that it was not registered. He said the vehicle was handed over the customs department.

The customs intelligence staff said inmates of the car, Ghulam Rasool and Samar of Bannu district, said they had bought the car in Waziristan.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2023