MANSEHRA: Police booked a station house officer here on Saturday for the murder of a man after residents blocked a major road.
The incident occurred when police intercepted a car in the Fogdara area of Perhana and fired at its driver, Abbas Arshad, as he allegedly attempted to flee.
According to the FIR lodged at the police reporting centre established at King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, the man was going home in the car along with three other persons when SHO Hamza Khan intercepted him and opened fire to “foil his attempt to escape”.
The incident sparked residents to take to the streets and block the Mansehra-Abbottabad Road by placing the body on the road.
Residents block major road
They shifted the body to the bypass, suspending traffic between Mansehra city and the rest of Hazara Division.
They shouted slogans against the police and demanded registration of an FIR under the Anti-Terrorism Act. They, however, later agreed to the registration of a case under Section 302 of the PPC.
The body was moved to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Some charged demonstrators allegedly attacked police.
The protesters dispersed peacefully after the superintendent of police, deputy superintendent of police and SHOs of various police stations held talks with their leader and former minister, Mohammad Iqbal, and ordered the registration of FIR.
A police official said the deceased was wanted by the Battal police in a case registered under sections 324, 363, 427, 148 and 149 of the PPC on November 14, 2025, before being declared a proclaimed offender.
“The operation was carried out for his arrest, where one of our police personnel survived a bullet fired by Abbas Arshad due to wearing a bulletproof jacket,” he claimed.
LEOPARD ATTACK: Residents of the Bararkot area here took to the streets against the wildlife department after a teacher was seriously injured by a leopard that sneaked into the area from nearby forests.
“This is the third incident in which a wildcat attacked and seriously injured a teacher on his way to school in the morning,” said Yaqoob Mughal from the area, which borders Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Teacher Tauseef Ahmad was on his way to school to join duty in the morning when a leopard jumped in front of him, seriously injured him, and fled. He was rushed to a nearby health facility with multiple injuries on different parts of his body.
A wildlife department team launched a search for the leopard in Bararkot.
WATER SHORTAGE: Residents of various neighbourhood councils have complained of water shortage and demanded connections from a recently installed water supply scheme in the city.
“People of different localities have been without potable water as hand pumps have dried up due to the declining underground water table, and TMA water supply schemes have suspended supplies,” resident Mohammad Ayub told reporters.
Mr Ayub, who led residents of Mohallah Lower Channia, Nilan, Zafar Ground and adjoining areas, said they had taken up the water scarcity issue with the tehsil municipal administration, seeking connections from the new scheme, but to no avail.
Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2026
