PESHAWAR, Jan 23: The NWFP government declared on Wednesday Banochi as a tribe permanently domiciled in Bannu district to be eligible for recruitment in the platoons established for different Pakhtoon tribes in the Frontier Constabulary (FC), says a notification.

Banochis, the notification says, are the descendants of Karlanr Pathan, his son Kakay and grandson Shitak according to the genealogical division of the Pukhtoons as determined by Sir Olaf Caroe in his book The Pathan.

Henceforth, the Banochi shall be considered as a recognised tribe to be eligible for recruitment in Banochi platoons in the FC as and when raised by the government.

The district coordination officer of Bannu has been directed to prepare a criterion for recruitment on the basis of sections and sub-sections of Banochi tribe.

A senior official of the Home and Tribal Affairs Department told Dawn on condition of anonymity that historically it was believed that Banochi did not exist as a tribe in the NWFP and the adjacent tribal areas.

The official said incumbent chief minister Mohammad Akram Khan Durrani, also belonging to Bannu, instructed the department to declare Banochi as a tribe to provide employment opportunities to the people from his native Bannu district.