Man shot dead

CHARSADDA, Feb 15: A man was shot dead and his brother was injured by unidentified gunmen here on Friday.

The police said the victim was identified as Asaf Kamal and injured Youna Kamal. They said unknown motorcyclists opened fire on them at Sattiabad locality in the outskirts of Charsadda late on Thursday night when they were coming from the Tableeghi Markaz.

Meanwhile, a student, Junian, was hit and killed when a speeding car hit his bike. The victim was returning from school. The car driver managed to escape.

In a similar incident, a youth, Omar Reman, was hit by a speeding van in Dosera area as a result he died on the spot. The driver of the van was also injured.

Meanwhile, a government girls high school was partially damaged when an explosive device planted by its gate went off on Friday morning. The BDU personnel said two kg explosive was used in the blast. —Correspondent

Road rehabilitation

CHITRAL, Feb 15: The residents of Kuragh and Charun villages of upper Chitral have demanded of the government not to pay the contractor a penny for the work done by the villagers on the repair of the Chitral-Booni road at Reshun.

They said the local people had been disappointed of the apathetic attitude of the government in starting rehabilitation work on the road.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, the elders said the hilly portion of the road connecting upper and lower parts of the district had been washed away by floods three years ago.

The villagers said youth of the area embarked upon the rehabilitation work and accomplished it in just ten days. They said the communication and works had awarded the contract of the 250 meters long affected part of the road at Rs9.5 million but the contractor did not start work on the site. —Correspondent  

School peon arrested

KOHAT, Feb 15: The police arrested peon of a school for trying to molest an 11-year-old girl in Shakardarra on Friday.

The schoolgirl who studied in class five told her parents after returning late from school that the peon of the school asked her to stay after the classes.

The father of the girl told the police her daughter came late from the school. On questioning she informed that the peon, 49, asked her daughter to stay in the school to clean the classroom. Then he started molesting her and threatened to kill her if she tried to raise voice. She, however, managed to escape. The police of Shakardarra registered the case and arrested the peon after recording the statement of the girl. —Correspondent

Devolved departments

PESHAWAR, Feb 15: Chairman of the Oversight Committee on Implementation of 18th Constitutional Amendment and Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain has directed the administrative secretaries to complete legislation of the devolved departments so that the same could be passed in the last session of the provincial assembly.

He passed the directives while chairing the 23rd meeting of the committee on Friday.

The meeting was informed that besides two departments, all other departments had completed their legislation work and would submit the documents in the cabinet meeting on February 18. Secretaries of the two departments also assured the meeting that they would complete their legislation work within a week.

Pointing out that certain quarters desired to sabotage efforts to implement the 18th Amendment, Mian Iftikhar thanked the bureaucracy for completing the task efficiently. He hoped the remaining work would also be accomplished before the end of the forthcoming assembly session. —Bureau Report  

Passengers stranded

CHITRAL, Feb 15: About 2,000 passengers remained stranded on the Chitral side of the Lowari tunnel on Friday as the width of the road has been narrowed due to snow.

Talking to Dawn on telephone from the site, a human rights activist of Chitral Haji Mohammad Shafa said a section of the road soon after emerging from the second tunnel (1.9kms) has become too dilapidated for the vehicles to pass easily causing the traffic jam.

He said while the passengers outside the tunnel were facing freezing cold, those inside suffered suffocation problems due to the emission of poisonous gases by the vehicles. He said the vehicles might take another three to five hours to pass through the affected part of the road.

He demanded that the snow be removed from the road to avoid the frequent traffic jams. —Correspondent  

Demo against sectarian killings

PESHAWAR, Feb 15: Hundreds of people, including women and children, led by leaders of different Shia organisations took out a procession demanding of the government to stop killing of the community members and arrest the killers.

The protesters held banners and placards inscribed with demands for ending the killing of innocent people and shouted slogans against terrorism and drone attacks. They threatened to launch a protest movement if their demands were not met.

The protesters came out from Kocha Risaldar soon after the Friday prayers, marching through various bazaars and converging at Soekarno Chowk.

On the occasion several resolutions were adopted asking the government to arrest all those involved in the bloodshed of the members of the Shia community and awarding exemplary punishment to them. The rally asked the government to release the arrested people and announce a financial package for the affected families. —Bureau Report