LOWER DIR: A jirga here the other day demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of two employees of Tehsil Municipal Administration, alleging they died due to delayed treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital, Timergara, after a road accident a week ago.

Speaking at a press conference, leaders of Paito Dara Qaumi Islahi Jirga rejected the inquiry committee constituted by the hospital’s medical superintendent, saying it could not conduct an impartial investigation.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Lower Dir chief Sirajuddin, Tajak Ittehad provincial president Mohammad Shaeer Tajak and others were also present.

The jirga members argued that the committee lacked neutrality as it comprised doctors who would be investigating their own colleagues.

They demanded an independent and transparent probe into the deaths of Salahuddin alias Raja and Waqar Masih.

The jirga leaders claimed that, according to TMA employees and witnesses, the injured men died due to a delay in treatment in the hospital’s emergency ward.

The jirga members threatened to block the road at District Jail Chowk in Timergara if the concerns of the bereaved families were not addressed.

FOUR DROWN: Four men drowned in the Panjkora River over the past three days.

On Monday, a man drowned while swimming at Wari in Upper Dir.

Similarly, two youths drowned in the river in the Akhagram area of Upper Dir the other day.

On July 3, a 17-year-old boy drowned while swimming in the river near the Rani area of Lower Dir. Rescue 1122 later recovered his body.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2026