SWABI: Thirty-six representatives of the local government, including district naib nazim Assar Khan, were on Friday sent to judicial lockup by the judicial magistrate because of space constraints in the Chota Lahor police station.

Judicial magistrate Rahmatullah Wazir sent them to the judicial lockup after they were brought to the court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Chota Lahor, Fakhruz Zaman, who was on leave.

The local government representatives were arrested on Thursday after their bail before arrest application was cancelled by the additional sessions judge. They were lodged in the Chota Lahor police station.

The LG members are implicated in a case of firing in the air during a protest against loadshedding, last year.

Hearing of the case would now be held on Monday, according to Mohammad Aqil Advocate, the counsel for the LG men.

He said he had submitted the application in the court of additional sessions judge, Chota Lahore, seeking his clients’ release, but the judge rejected their BBA.

TOBACCO CENTRES’ CLOSURE: Tobacco growers on Friday held a protest meeting against multinational company’s decision to close down tobacco purchasing centres not only in Swabi but also in other tobacco growing districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The meeting was held in Yar Hussain on the call of Tobacco Growers Association Pakistan. Growers from all tobacco cultivating areas of the district attended the meeting.

The participants said Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) and Phillip Morris International (PMI) Pakistan had shut down some of their purchasing centres, which had caused unrest among the growers as they would face problems in selling their crop during the current year.

The farmers and their leaders asked PTB officials to help stop closure of the purchasing centres.

They also demanded that awareness should be created among growers about which types of tobacco they should cultivate to earn good profits.

They pointed out that closure of the tobacco purchasing centres was tantamount to the financial killing of the poor growers.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2017