Two shot dead in Dera

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Oct 22: A young man and a girl were shot dead allegedly by the girl’s brother in an honor-related incident in the Kiri Khaisore area here on Saturday.

Mast Khan, father of the victim, Mohammad Ramzan, told police the accused Abdur Rashid and his accomplice Sanwal, opened fire on his son at a marriage ceremony in the Kachi Malikhel area, killing him on the spot.

Later, Abdur Rashid also gunned down his sister on suspicion that she was having illicit relations with the victim.—Correspondent

Miners go on strike

KARAK, Oct 22: Salt miners of Karak district on Saturday boycotted work to protest against non-payment of compensation to the families of those who were killed during mining.

Labour union district president Malik Naveed, while addressing a meeting of the protesting miners, said the strike would continue for an indefinite period. He said so far over 100 miners had been killed and over 50 others injured, but the concerned department failed to pay compensation to the families.

He regretted that only Rs10,000 were paid to the families of the killed miners while only Rs4,000 to the injured. He alleged the leaseholders had prepared fake judicial stamp papers showing that they had paid maximum compensation to the families.

He said marriage and death grants for the sons and daughters of labourers should be given to the miners.—Correspondent

Funds for Lowari tunnel

CHITRAL, Oct 22: MNA Shahzada Mohayyuddin has expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani for the Rs18 billion for Lowari Tunnel project, which was approved by the Central Development Working Party on Friday.

Talking to journalists on Saturday, he said he had announced to resign from his seat in protest against the stoppage of work on the tunnel but the prime minister promised to provide necessary funds for resumption of work.

“The prime minister has now fulfilled his promise and made available the necessary funds for completing the tunnel.

Mr Mohayyuddin said work would be resumed as soon as the funds were released. He asked his political opponents to desist from playing politics in the name of Lowari tunnel as the people of Chitral cannot be hoodwinked anymore.—Correspondent

Hydro power potential

CHITRAL, Oct 22: Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Development and Cooperation of Germany, Ms Gudrun Kopp,has assured cooperation of the German government to develop and sponsor hydro power projects in Chitral district.

Gudrun Kopp visited Hydrolink Company in Taxila, which manufactures turbines and other spare parts used in hydro power stations to exploit the water potential in Chitral for power generation.

The chief executive officer of the company, Engineer Fazle Rabbi, while talking to Dawn on telephone here on Saturday, said Ms Kopp expressed her deep interest in the process and assured the cooperation of the German government to develop hydro power projects in Chitral.

He said the German parliamentary secretary had earlier visited Chitral and was well aware of the tremendous potential of the area for hydro power production which is the cheapest source of all.—Correspondent

Family blocks road

TIMERGARA, Oct 22: A family on Saturday staged a protest demonstration at Chakdara against police failure to recover its two members from their captors.

Eyewitnesses said wife of Zahir Shah, resident of Sihsada Chakdara, took out her children and other relatives and staged a sit-in on the Chakdara-Peshawar road, blocking it for more than an hour.

Talking to journalists, the woman said armed persons barged into her house and took away her daughter, Saba Gul, 13 and Tajjamul Hussain, 11 a few days ago.

She said an FIR was registered with the Chakdara police station but police were doing nothing to recover the abducted children. She said an Afghan national had abducted her children. The family later set up a hunger strike camp in the main Chakdara bazaar.—Correspondent

Exam date extended

PESHAWAR, Oct 22: The home and tribal affairs department has notified that the departmental examinations for various posts, scheduled to be hold on Monday, have been extended by a week. The examinations would now be held on Monday (October 31) on the premises of Central Prison, Peshawar.

Candidates would take examinations for posts of superintendent jail, deputy superintendents jail and assistant superintendents jail, according to a press issued here on Saturday.—Bureau Report