KOHAT, Oct 25: Once again the whole district administration and the law enforcement agencies have embarked upon a massive search and rescue operation for the kidnapped councillor and his friend in the infamous tribal territory of Kohat Frontier Region — Darra Adam Khel — besides hunting down a large number of proclaimed offenders, a major source of nuisance and law and order in the vast settled areas.

This means little or no time for local duty. The business of the district police and the victims round the year is more or less the same. The people remain haunted by the fear of being attacked by the felons or kidnapped for ransom.

They always keep their children and vehicles under strict vigilance killing their desire to buy a car or motorcycle for their beloved children or construct a villa they had been planning and dreaming for years.

The proximity of the tribal area where some of the dangerous criminals are hiding, with their number increasing as the time passes, has changed the whole lifestyle of the people here.

On the other hand, the illegal businesses and the old custom of providing shelter to the criminals is flourishing unhindered in Darra Adam Khel and the Orakzai Agency. However with the passage of time the filthy rich tribesmen have shifted their residence to Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore with their business still intact in Darra and elsewhere for many reasons.

A survey conducted by Dawn revealed that few hundred maliks of this infamous town have been opposing the government resolve to educate the tribesmen to invest their money in other legal businesses. There is no denying the fact that these tribesmen in one way or the other have earned billions of rupees through unfair means and made investments in construction and import and export enterprises.

They have dual identities — they have got both IDs of settled areas and that of the tribal areas at a time. They apply the one, which suits them best in certain circumstances. For admission of their children to the professional colleges they claim quota for tribal areas although their children are getting education in some of the costly and prestigious institutions.

Haji Nasir, when asked why had he shifted to Peshawar, replied, “I do not know exactly why but my family feels comfortable here whereas I have kept my business still in the Darra market.”

Similarly Haji Momin, like so many other tribesmen, has his hujra (drawing room) in Darra and a commercial plaza and three houses in Peshawar. He says it is necessary for him to keep his hujra inhabited because through it he knows what is going on in his native town. He said people and the government officials approach him for the safe recovery of the kidnapped victims and their vehicles.

They prefer to live in the tribal area because electricity is very cheap — Rs110 per month both for residential and commercial connection, they are exempted from all kind of taxes, free to use non-custom paid vehicles and, to top it all, the government officials and the general public is afraid of them and they make huge profits through illegal activities.

What the common man earns through selling 200 chickens a tribesmen makes the same amount by selling one inferior quality local-made pistol. Similarly, years of education and hard work is required to become a millionaire but tribesmen become so only by kidnapping a businessman and getting ransom.

A notorious proclaimed offender Pir Asif Shah said that he preferred to seek shelter in the tribal area because he had no faith in the present police and justice system — once arrested blind cases, even murders, are put in their credit.

Secondly, it is better to live freely in the tribal area without any fear than to languish in the jail. Most of the criminals also opt for hiding in the tribal area due to their strong connections there and because they can keep an eye on the family enemies with a chance to kill them.

A proclaimed offender senselessly goes on rampage and kills and kidnaps for his tribal master. “Once you become head of the criminals you need nothing to do and even then, earn millions a month,” he revealed.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Ihsan Ghani recalled that some time back they arrested two proclaimed offenders. One was wanted by the police in 63 murder cases and the other in 14 such cases.

The court granted them bail because the families of all the 73 victims settled their dispute with them amicably due to fear. He said that he had requested the governor to take up the matter of such cases with the federal government so that the law could be modified to punish cannibals and provide security to the victims.

Similarly, officials posted in the tribal areas get a chance to become a millionaire in months as compared to other posts. Every bureaucrat wants to be posted in the tribal territory where smuggling and crime is rampant and money in abundance.

The bureaucrats recall the time when the money from the tribal areas used to make its way to the governor house and the federal secretaries. Sometimes to the president house, which has a direct control over the agencies, courtesy tribal MNAs and senators who enjoyed an important position in the formation of a government at the Centre.

In fact, the gun smugglers and kidnappers are neither poor nor helpless nor jobless. They have their vested interest which is affecting millions of people in the surroundings and in the down country as well.

During the Dawn poll 100 per cent people demanded of the government, which has joined the coalition against terrorism, must do something to put the things in the right direction in the country first and change the status of such areas, which are the criminals’ haven and causing fear among the people through circulating lethal weapons and drugs in the society.

The intelligence agencies and the law enforcement agencies, on a number of occasions in their reports, have recommended to the government to declare tribal areas, particularly Darra Adam Khel as a settled area because it has become an infamous market for drug smuggling, kidnappings and car theft for ransom, gun-running and arms manufacturing and a haven for thousands of proclaimed offenders, hired assassins, a big and only market of fake currency, fake licenses and educational certificates.