MANSEHRA: Traders in the Shinkiari area here have refused to pay property tax and announced a complete shutter down against the “unjustified” levy.

“If our harassment by the excise and taxation department on the issue of property tax doesn’t stop, we’ll down shutters as an act of protest,” president of the Shinkiari traders’ body Ahsan Allai told a meeting on Tuesday.

The participants, including traders and property owners, rejected property tax and said they won’t pay the “unjustified” levy in the presence of multiple taxes by both federal and provincial governments.

Mr Allai said the excise and taxation department had served notices on traders and owners of business centres on the issue in an act of harassment.

Complain about harassment by taxation dept, threaten strike

Trader leader Jehanzeb Khan Swati said both federal and provincial governments were widening their tax base by further taxing those, who were already paying many direct and indirect levies.

He said businessmen were worst hit by record inflation and the imposition of property tax would force them into closing down their businesses.

Another trader, Shabbir Khan, complained that the government was not providing additional services to them, so the property tax wasn’t justified.

“We’ll take to the streets if the excise and taxation department doesn’t stop harassing us,” he said.

KILLED: A boy was killed in a roof collapse incident in theHamshirian area here on Monday night.

However, other members of the family remained unhurt.

Mohammad Dildar, 12, was trapped under the rubble after the roof of his mud house caved in.

His family and neighbours pulled him out of the rubble and took him to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl has named office-bearers for its Oghi tehsil cabinet.

According to it, Qari Mohammad Siddique will be its tehsil emir, Abdul Razzaq general secretary, and Hafiz Usmani, Syed Moin Mufti Amanullah and Maulana Mohammad Amin deputy emirs.

CRACKDOWN: Residents have demanded a crackdown on the sale of spurious drugs in Mansehra city and its suburbs.

They told reporters that not only were spurious medicines selling in Barkund, Khaki, Khawajgan, Oghi and Darband areas within any check but quacks were also active across the district, playing with people’s health.

Meanwhile, police on Tuesday arrested two motorcycle snatchers here and seized 16 stolen two-wheelers.

District police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told reporters that Danish Tariq and Mohammad Sajid, members of an interprovincial gang of motorcycle snatchers, were held after an inquiry.

He said the detainees had confessed to motorcycle theft in KP, Punjab and Sindh.

The DPO said the seized two-wheelers would be handed over to their owners after verification.

He promised early arrest of the other gang members and said those helping police make those arrests would be awarded cash and appreciation certificates.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024