KOHAT, July 31: The administration of the Kohat Frontier Region has stopped the salaries of class-IV employees belonging to the Zarghun Khel tribe of Darra Adam Khel after the second deadline given to the tribe for handing over 64 criminals hiding in the region passed.

Issuance of national identity cards and attestation of domiciles of the tribe had also been suspended, the region's assistant political agent Zahir Shah said at a news conference at his office on Friday.

He said that in the second phase all the shops of the tribe would be sealed until it surrendered all the wanted men.

He the deadline was extended twice but the tribe could only hand over 12 of the 64 wanted men.

He said that of the wanted men 24 belonged to the Zarghun Khel tribe, of whom 12 were proclaimed offenders for involvement in crimes in settled areas.

The authorities during a week-long operation in Darra Adam Khel arrested a gang of carjackers and recovered five vehicles, he said.

He said the carjackers had abandoned the vehicles on the roadside fearing search of their houses.

Mr Shah said a Toyota Hiace (LHO-1450) stolen from Nowshera had been recovered four people - Kamran, Tauqir, Tariq and Rasheed, residents of Nowshera district - had been arrested.

He said all the recovered vehicles were new and efforts were under way to identify their owners with the help of the chassis and engine numbers. The owner of one vehicle had approached the administration, he said.

VEHICLES' REGISTRATION: The administrators of the seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions have been asked, under directives of the NWFP governor, to register all non-custom-paid vehicles and allot them numbers of their respective tribal areas. Sources said the process would start shortly and an amnesty period would be announced for the collection of customs duty.