HARIPUR: A power pilferage detection team of Hazara Electric Supply Company (Hazesco) has sealed a small factory over illegal power use in Mang Soka area, police and company officials said on Friday.

They said a criminal case had been registered against the owner, who managed to escape when the police and Hazesco officials conducted a joint raid on Thursday night.

The police confiscated a power transformer and a mini truck and some raw material.

The officials said the owner was using power supply through illegal kundas put on the 11KV line for operating the furnace for melting scrap for onward marketing.

The small industry’s owner, identified as Shamsher Ali and his workers, managed to escape.

The officials said the owner was an alleged defaulter of Rs227,755 of Hazesco.

ARRESTED: The police have arrested a granddaughter and a close relative in the murder case of an elderly woman in a remote village of Ghazi.

On August 25, the Ghazi police quoted Saifar Ali, a resident of Jhamra village, as saying that his mother, Shamim Akhtar, 70, was sleeping in her bedroom with her granddaughter, Almas Bibi,

20, when four masked men entered the room.

“The woman attempted to put up resistance but the accused first injected her with some sedative and later smothered her to death using a pillow,” the complainant said.

“Almas was also injected with some sedative by the accused, who taped her mouth before decamping with Rs1.4 million cash and gold ornaments weighing eight tolas,” the complainant said.

The police registered a case against unknown robbers. SP investigations Jamilur Rehman said the investigating team traced some telephonic contact between Almas Bibi, and Rizwan Ahmed, a close relative of the deceased.

The police arrested both of them and obtained two-day physical remand of Ahmed, while the area magistrate sent the girl to Central Prison Haripur.

The police claimed to have recovered stolen gold ornaments and Rs164,000 from the possession of the accused.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2025