MARDAN, July 24: Police here on Sunday arrested the main accused who along with his relatives allegedly stoned and then shot dead his wife in the name of honour in Bairoch village of Rustam city last month. Shah Mumtaz Khan, the SHO of Rustam police station, told Dawn that on a tip-off he along with other officials cordoned off the Bazaar Pirsay road and arrested Mohammad Saeed.

The SHO said that the accused along with his relatives had stoned and shot dead his wife, Shazia, allegedly in the name of honour on June 21. All the accused had escaped after committing the crime.

The SHO said Noor Jehan, mother of the deceased, had told police that her daughter was residing with her in Barikot Swat after developing differences with her husband.

The Rustam police had registered FIR against 14 accused on the complaint of Noor Jehan at that time, said Mr Mumtaz, adding, Mohammad Saeed was also wanted to police in eight different cases including murder, attempted murder, extortion, robbery and kidnapping.

VACCINATION CAMPAIGN: The Paramedical Association EPI, Mardan, has blamed the local administration for delaying the three-day polio vaccination campaign in the district.

The association’s president, Badrullah Khan, told this correspondent on Sunday that polio teams under their supervision had been administering polio drops to children in different areas of the district for the last several years.

He said that while they had finalised all the arrangements to start the polio drive from July 18 the commissioner asked them to include the school teachers into the polio teams.

“We have no other option but to delay the drive for inclusion of teachers and now polio drops will be administered to children from July 25 to 27,” Mr Khan said and added that the teachers had no experience of door-marking and keeping record of children.

He claimed that even the school teachers were not willing to take part in the polio drive.

When contacted, Mardan commissioner Mohammad Adil said that it was decision of the provincial government to involve school teachers in the polio drive so as to make it more organised.