MANSEHRA: Balakot tehsil administration and police on Thursday deployed additional personnel along the Kunhar River in Kaghan Valley to prevent tourists from venturing close to the riverbanks after police booked four TikTokers for allegedly endangering their lives while filming stunts.
“The administration has taken strict notice of the incident in which the TikTokers could have lost their lives while filming. We have deployed additional personnel to ensure the safety of tourists who do not realise how dangerous the Kunhar River can be,” assistant commissioner Balakot Hasrat Khan told reporters.
Following a preliminary investigation, police concluded that the four tourists, who were allegedly making TikTok videos, had deliberately driven their pickup along the riverbank, where it slipped into the fast-flowing river.
Police registered an FIR and arrested the four friends from Sargodha including Sultan Jameel, Ali Usman, Mohsan Ali and Faizan Ali under relevant sections of the law. They were taken into custody by Kaghan police.
Four TikTokers booked for dangerous riverbank stunts
The district administration had already imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), prohibiting tourists from approaching the banks of the Kunhar, Indus and Siren rivers, as well as other streams across the district, following the onset of the monsoon season.
Meanwhile, families living along rivers and streams in Mansehra, Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan and Torghar districts have been warned of possible floods and landslides during the monsoon season following the Provincial Disaster Management Authority issued a warning of increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods.
DOCTORS’ STRIKE: House officers at the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital (KATH) on Thursday observed a complete strike, boycotting healthcare services in protest against the alleged assault on one of their colleagues by a senior doctor at the hospital.
“I was performing my duty when one of the doctors first hurled threats at me over some remarks and then assaulted and injured me,” house officer Dr Moin Akram told police.
According to the protesting house officers, their colleague had pointed out certain shortcomings to a visiting inspection team of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) during its visit to KATH when they questioned him, which allegedly provoked Dr Ilyas Khattak, deployed along with him.
“Dr Ilyas assaulted and injured our colleague, Dr Moin. The matter worsened when Dr Moin approached the police to register an FIR, but doctors at the hospital refused to complete the medico-legal formalities required for the case,” one of the protesting house officers said.
Meanwhile, Medical Superintendent Dr Jawad Majeed, taking notice of the situation, initiated efforts to bring both parties to the negotiating table in an attempt to resolve the dispute amicably and restore normalcy at the hospital.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2026