MANSEHRA: A seminary head suspected of sexually assaulting one of his students was seriously injured in a gun attack here on Wednesday.

The attacker is reportedly an uncle of the minor assault victim, according to police.

“We have registered an FIR and started raids to arrest the gunman,” district police officer Zahoor Babar Afridi told reporters.

He said the attacker fled, firing gunshots that left two people injured.

The DPO said the cleric was attacked when he was shopping in a Badra Chowk shop in the heart of the city.

He said the firing also injured a shop worker, who, along with the cleric, was shifted to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, where the condition of both was critical.

The FIR registered by the city police under Section 324 of the PPC said the seminary head was returning to the Perhana area after appearing in the local court when he came under attack.

It added that ahead of the attack, the gunman met with the cleric to settle the matter out of court, but the latter refused to patch things up, with the former insisting the matter was sub judice.

The FIR said the gunman indiscriminately opened fire at the cleric in a shop.

The sexual assault was reported on Dec 24, 2020,sparking public outrage. The provincial assembly also passed a resolution against the incident and called for legislation to check crimes against children.

TEHSIL STATUS DEMANDED: The people of Darband area here on Wednesday demanded of the government to declare Darband a tehsil and address civic and other issues of the locals.

Former district councillor Abdul Zaman Tanoli told reporters in Darband that though the previous PTI government had given Darband the tehsil’s status, it had yet to become “fully operational” to address people’s issues.

Accompanied by a group of locals, he said revenue and other devolved departments had yet to open or relocate their offices to Darband to serve the people.

Resident Mohammad Ashiq said the newly-elected government should ensure the relocation of revenue and other offices in the “larger public interest.”

He said the tehsil status would ensure the development of Darband.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2024