TIMERGARA, Sept 1: The religious degree submitted by Najmuddin Khan, PPP provincial secretary and a candidate for NA- 33, Upper Dir, has sparked a storm over the validity of his degree.

Khan claimed that his degree was genuine as he obtained it from a famous seminary, Anwarul Aloom, Hyderabad. But, his rival candidate, Maulana Asadullah of Jammat-i-Islami, claimed that the degree was fake.

The JI claimed that Hyderabad police had arrested Abdus Sattar Bozdar, caretaker of Anwarul Aloom, for issuing a fake degree to Najmuddin Khan. The JI’s Hyderabad branch had faxed the clipping of various Urdu newspapers, which carried the news on arrest of Bozdar, to JI Timergara.

The local JI branch had put the news items on display at their election office in Timergara, which proved to be a blow for the PPP candidate.

If, the returning officer rejected nomination papers of Khan on the basis of his religious degree, he would support his younger brother, Inamullah Khan, also a nominee of Pakistan Muslim League (N) from the same constituency.