MANSEHRA, Aug 3: Police on Friday arrested the heads of four families in Mansehra city and its suburbs for renting houses despite a ban.

The arrests were made a week after district coordination officer Dr Amber Ali Khan banned the renting out of houses to non-locals and Afghan refugees.

The arrested men were Naeem Gul of Akora Khattak, Bacha Khan of Kabul in Afghanistan, Mewa Khan of Khairabad and Ghulam Khan of Paktia in Afghanistan.

A source in police said the four people would be sent to their respective areas along with their families if they were not found involved in any illegal activity.

The notification issued by the DCO about ban reads, “The Shangla, Kohistan and Torghar residents and Afghan refugees have got the houses on rent in Mansehra without proper verification and posing serious threat to law and order situation.”

The police source said legal action would also be taken against locals flouting the said ban.

He said security in the district had been increased after two people were injured and a CD shop damaged in a bomb blast near main busterminal earlier this week.

Meanwhile, state minister Sardar Shahjahan Yousuf on Friday said SNGPL would soon open its sub-regional office in Mansehra.

“Work on Mansehra sub-regional office of SNGPL has been completed and it will begin providing services to people shortly,” he told reporters after meeting local SNGPL bosses here.

The minister said work on the laying of gas pipeline with 10 inches diameter from Abbottabad to Mansehra had begun and once it was over, gas would be supplied to Baffa, Pakhal, Malikpur, Barkund, Shinkiary, Dodial and other adjoining areas.

“We are thankful to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for sanctioning the money for the extra pipeline,” he said.

Mr Yousuf said in the next phases, gas would be supplied to Balakot and Oghi, while a pipeline would be laid from Mansehra to Balakot and Mansehra to Oghi for it.

He said the federal government was striving to overcome energy crisis in the country and he was hopeful that Wapda would soon reduce power outages.