PESHAWAR: The treasury benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday failed to satisfy the House when an opposition member claimed that he had documentary evidence of recruitment in the Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) in return for a huge amount.
The question relating to the recruitment of constables from different districts of the province was referred to the House Standing Committee when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Member Provincial Assembly Malik Qasim Khan insisted that he had solid evidence of sale of one post of constable in the FRP for Rs280,000.
He claimed the people of particular districts had been inducted in FRP during the recent recruitment for which the process was conducted in Peshawar. He added that sense of deprivation had compelled several unemployed youth in Chitral to seek jobs in the Afghan National Army in Afghanistan.
Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights Arshad Abdullah, however, termed it a mere allegation. He agreed to the suggestion to refer the matter to the assembly’s standing committee on Home and Tribal Affairs.
Three more questions pertaining to the provincial Home and Tribal Affairs Department were referred to the standing committee for further inquiry as the lawmakers during the question-hour were not satisfied with the department’s performance. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti also holds the portfolio of the Home Department.
The question about the purchase of weapons and ammunition for the Police Department during 2007-2008 was referred to the standing committee for further probe when lawmakers from the treasury and opposition benches raised questions about the total amount paid for some 1,322 pistols (9mm) at Rs56.998 million.
The ruling Awami National Party’s Member Provincial Assembly Saqibullah Khan Chamkani criticised the high-ups of police and paramilitary forces for failing to adopt proper security measures when the secret agencies had informed them about possible attacks on police stations and the training centre in Shabqadar tehsil in Charsadda district.
He was referring to the suicide attacks on the recruits of Frontier Constabulary (FC) training centre in Shabqadar one and half years back.
He said majority of the constables had been deployed for the personal protection of heads of these forces. He added that some important roads were blocked in Peshawar by the security forces when the high-ranking officers of these forces entered or left their offices.
In response to a question, the law minister told the House that personnel of security forces who deserted the forces due to the fear of militants or had links with militants in Swat, Buner, Dir and Hangu districts would not be reinstated.