MANSEHRA: The police on Saturday refuted a statement circulating on social media that only married couples were allowed to proceed to the scenic Kaghan Valley.

“Our social media monitoring team, which works around the clock, has come across posts claiming that police only permit couples to enter Kaghan Valley after showing a marriage (wedlock) certificate.

This is completely false and baseless,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told reporters.

He clarified that the police imposed a ban on a three-day event that also featured nightly music shows.

“Those involved in its promotion through video logs or social media will be brought to justice under strict laws as we cannot allow a handful of people to disturb the peaceful environment of Kaghan Valley,” the DPO declared.

He said that the police had recently launched a crackdown on ‘harassment’, ‘vulgarity’ and ‘immoral’ activities, both online and on social media platforms, and had arrested many individuals. Such misleading posts, he added could be a reaction to that campaign.

“We will never allow a handful of TikTokers and social media influencers to sabotage the peaceful environment in our district through ‘immoral’ and socially unacceptable content. Our crackdown will continue without any interruption,” Mr Gandapur said.

He stressed that police welcomed both national and foreign visitors to Kaghan Valley and other areas of the district, as thousands of locals earned their livelihood through tourism.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025