ABBOTTABAD, Jan 6: The district civil judge V on Monday granted a stay to the Ministry of Defence against digging graves in Malikpura Graveyard by locals, and fixed Jan 16 for the next hearing.

The judge took action on a petition filed by the military estate officer.

The plea filed against the city union council Nazim, with the general public at large, states that the area in which the residents are laying their deads to rest belongs to the Defence Officers Housing Scheme.

For a few days, a tension has prevailed in the area over the rights of the graveyard. The locals has also met the district Nazim who has taken up the issue with the cantonment authorities to help resolve the problem.

Protest rallies and meetings were also held in Malikpura where the people demanded of the high-ups of the Ministry of Defence to spare the land for the graveyard.

Almost 80 per cent area of the housing scheme has been occupied by graves while for the left 20 per cent the residents have demanded of the authorities to allot it for the locals.

It has been learnt that the estate officer had already allotted the area to some army officers, who have not possessed the land yet. Only six bungalows have so far been built in the area.

Kamran Ahmed advocate, Nazim of the city union council, have demanded of the federal defence minister and President Gen Pervez Musharraf for the allotment of land for the cemetery on humanitarian basis as residents of more than eight wards of the 14 of the city have no place left to burry their deads.

Crime rate: Crime rate in the district has shown a considerable decline in 2002, says Abbottabad SSP Iqbal Mehmood.

Speaking to newsmen here on Monday, he said that in cases of murder, robbery, dacoity, attempted murder, abduction, rap and car-lifting a significant decline was registered.

He explained that out of the 39 murder cases, accused in 32 cases were arrested. Of the 32 at least seven were blind murders, he added. In the 15 cases of car-lifting, 10 vehicles were recovered and culprits were nabbed, he said.

Due to de-weapaniztion campaign, arms cases were also recorded on lower side as compared to last year, he told the journalists.

The SSP said that the more vehicles provided to police for patrolling and the installation of computers in various sections of the police department had helped a great deal in checking crimes.