KOHAT: A large number of people blocked the Hangu highway here on Sunday against the killing of a youth by unknown gunmen in the morning.

They placed the body of the victim, Umer Daraz, 30, on the road. He was killed by unknown gunmen when he was going to his shop in the morning.

The protest suspended the traffic on the busy road for around one hour.

The police said family of the victim, a resident of Garhi Rauf Khan, had told them that he had left for the bazaar in the morning on a motorcycle.

The police took the body to the KDA Teaching Hospital for autopsy, and after registration of case, handed it over to the family.

Later, the family members of the deceased along with people of Garhi area blocked the highway.

The protesters dispersed after the senior police officials assured them that the culprits would be held soon.

In a separate development, the superintendent of the Kohat jail on Sunday complained about excessive electricity loadshedding, troubling the inmates in the biting cold.

Talking to Dawn, Abdul Bari regretted that no official of Peshawar Electric Supply Company was picking his phone calls to tell why the facility was being subjected to long power blackouts.

He said Pesco ensured smooth supply during the visit of the Peshawar High Court chief justice to the jail a few days ago, but now the facility was being provided power for only four hours a day.

He also complained about absence of gas facility in the jail.

He said the jail management had applied for a gas connection several years ago, but Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited was insisting there had been a ban on new connections.

Mr Bari said he had discussed the matter with Haji Sajid, chairman of civil society organisations, and informed him that loadshedding had caused water shortage in the jail as the pumping machines of bores could not be run. He said the jail mostly relied on water tankers.

ARREST: The mineral development department with the help of the police got arrested four accused red-handed while drawing placer gold from the banks of the River Indus near Shakardarra without lease permits on Sunday.

The department’s inspector Zubair got FIRs registered against the arrested men for causing losses to the national exchequer and smuggling the gold.

The accused were identified as Ameer Jan from Mohmand tribal district, Nasir, Faisal and Imran hailing from Rehmanabad area of Shakardarra.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2023