KOHAT: Kohat Fruit and Vegetable Market president Sharifullah Khan has demanded ban on the Afghan businessmen taking part in the bidding for fruit and vegetables, saying that this is resulting in heavy price hike in city.

Talking to Dawn, he said that over 70 per cent of the fruit and vegetable sale business was in the control of Afghan refugees, who owned shops, kiosks and handcarts in the area.

He said that the Afghan refugees, who outnumbered the local business traders, offered high rates during the bidding of lots early in the morning, leaving very little space for the local traders to do business.

Mr Khan alleged that the refugees did not accept the rates fixed by the market association and charge the customers at their will with the connivance of the local police. As a result, heavy escalation of prices was witnessed.

Market leader says refugees creating price-hike in Kohat

He claimed that if the district government fixed the price of banana at Rs80 per dozen the refugees would charge customers between Rs150 and Rs180 for the same.

The district price control committee had also miserably failed to check the violation of rates fixed by the market stakeholders and despite repeated complaints in this regard it had paid no heed due to stubborn attitude of Afghan traders. He said that the refugees had little respect for the local laws.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The police seized over a hundred litres of local liquor during a raid in Sheikhan village of Kohat on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off that one Riaz was preparing liquor and selling it in Kohat to potential buyers, a police party of Saddar police station raided an empty house in Sheikhan village and seized 118 liquor bottles, another 50 litres of liquor in two drums and sealing material.

However, the suspect Riaz and his workers had fled before the raid. Police claimed that the suspect would buy liquor from Darra Adamkhel. They have started raids to arrest the suspect.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014