KOHAT, July 13: The Frontier Constabulary destroyed three more houses and arrested 24 people during the ongoing operation against anti-social elements and their harbourers in Darra Adam Khel on late Friday night.

The operation had to be carried out in a blackout as major power breakdown hit the whole Kohat division and Darra Adam Khel on Friday afternoon. The electricity supply remained cut off for more than eleven hours, i.e., from 4pm till 3.30am.

The tehsildar of Kohat Frontier Region (Darra Adam Khel), Fida Mohammad Khan, who is supervising the whole operation, told Dawn on Friday night that the FC which was also using light artillery destroyed the houses of Haq Nawaz Khan, Khalid and Ghazi in the Shanikali with mortars as punishment for blocking traffic  on the Indus Highway passing through the  tribal territory. They were also wanted in a number of cases of highway robberies, he added.

The operation which started after the evening prayers and continued till late in the night was also expanded to the Mullan Khel area for the arrest of an inter provincial gang of car lifters, Fida added.

He said the destruction of the four houses of Gul Wali, Jangrez Khan, Jehangir and Bahdar Khan was postponed after the intervention of the elders of the area.

The elders promised to hand over the four accused within a week and also expel their families from the area failing which they would pay Rs two million as fine. After the expiry of the deadline their houses would be destroyed, Fida said while after the agreement.

However to force the car lifters to surrender themselves to the authorities the administration arrested their 18 relatives under the 40 Frontier Crimes Regulations and put them in the lock up.

This is the typical modus operandi of the  political authorities to arrest a large number of relatives of a criminal in case he refuses to surrender.