MANSEHRA: Infighting in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Oghi tehsil came out in the open on Thursday as the party’s two groups named own tehsil presidents.
The two groups had gathered in a meeting called to unanimously select the party’s president for Oghi following the dissolution of the cabinets for Mansehra district and Oghi, Balakot and Mansehra tehsils by PTI divisional president Zargul Khan last week.
The meeting chaired by Nawabzada Fareed and attended by PTI activists in Oghi was marred by uproar, allegations and counter-allegations by participants.
The two groups accused each other of being disloyal to the party and playing negative politics for power.
The chair’s repeated bids to bring the meeting in order failed.
Party’s two groups name own tehsil presidents
Later, one group named Habib Bassikhel as PTI tehsil president and the other Shafiqur Rehman amid sloganeering.
Mr. Bassikhel claimed the PTI divisional president had named him the tehsil president but the rival group’s ‘unjustified’ objections led to the dissolution of the party’s cabinets not only in Oghi but also in Mansehra district and two other tehsils.
Mr. Rehman said his group consisted of ‘bona fide’ party activists and therefore, it deserved to lead the party in tehsil.
The chair criticised both the groups and said their ‘highly undemocratic’ conduct could harm the party’s interests.
He said as the situation normalised, he would call the meeting again to unanimously select the party’s president and other office-bearers for Oghi.
CRACKDOWN BEGINS: The regional tax office on Thursday began a crackdown on counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes in Hazara division.
“We have begun raiding warehouses with counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes in Mansehra, Abbottabad and Haripur districts with a help for early end to the illegal business,” RTO deputy commissioner Mohammad Faheem Khattak told reporters here.
He said a joint team of the RTO and police raided warehouses on Bardar Road in Mansehra city and examined cigarette stocks.
Mr. Faheem said the raids on warehouses with stocks of counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes would continue.
GIRL KILLED: A girl was killed over an old enmity in Gurmitti area of Oghi on Thursday.
The police said Nazakat Bibi, 14, was gunned down reportedly by Waqas Shah when she was returning home after fetching water from a nearby fountain in Gurmitti village.
They said the suspected killer fled after the firing.
The police said the local residents quickly shifted the girl to a nearby hospital but doctors declared her dead.
They said they handed over the body to the family after its postmortem was conducted at the Civil Hospital Oghi.
Mohammad Salman formally named Waqas Shah and two others as suspects.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017