LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Oct 27: Tribal elders of Bazaar-Zakhakhel in Landi Kotal tehsil have agreed to abandon poppy cultivation in their areas on a condition that they get electricity supply.

The agreement was reached at Jirga Hall on Tuesday which was attended by Khyber Agency political agent and assistant political agent Landi Kotal besides notables and Maliks from the area.

Around 30,000 Bazaar-Zakhakhel residents are without electricity and are mostly dependent on poppy cultivation as their main source of income.

Speaking at the jirga, Zakhakhel elder Malik Nadir Shah assured the political officials that his people were ready to abandon poppy cultivation provided they were supplied with power.

He also expressed his readiness to install meters and pay electricity bills as the area residents were faced with lots of problems due to non-availability of power.

He alleged that while his co-tribesmen in other tribal agencies were using power free of cost, thousands of his area residents were without this basic facility.

The Jirga also resolved not to provide protection to kidnappers and announced a cash penalty of one million and demolition of houses for those who violated the agreement.

Political Agent Dr Fida Wazir thanked the Zakhakhel elders for their active cooperation in the recovery of three kidnapped persons and handing over a suspect during an operation some two weeks ago.

Dr Wazir said that the three kidnapped persons were recovered without paying any ransom. Malik Mehmood and Malik Habibullah also spoke on the occasion and assured the authorities that those involved in criminal activities would be handed over to authorities in due course of time.

SUICIDE: A young man committed suicide in Jamrud on Tuesday. Jauhar Ali, in his early 20s, had reportedly quarrelled with his relatives on a domestic issue and later shot himself dead at Teddi Bazaar. His body was later shifted to his village for burial.