Violent protests: Ex-MPAs among 174 arrested in Lower Dir

TIMERGARA: The Lower Dir police on Monday claimed to have arrested 174 out of the total 204 nominated workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for their alleged participation in violent protests.

Those arrested were accused of damaging government property, blocking national highways, resisting law-enforcement agencies and violating a ban on gatherings in the district. The spokesman for Lower Dir police told this scribe that five separate cases had been registered at Chakdara, Timergara, Balambat and Munda police stations.

The detainees included former MPAs Malik Shafiullah Khan, Malik Liaqat Ali and Azam Khan and other key PTI activists, he said.

The spokesman claimed that the cops from Balambat Police Station had so far recovered a number of stolen items from the possession of protesters during a search operation.

He said that the recovered items included rifles, five signboards, one table, 10 wooden benches, one water filtration machine, one gas cylinder, one ceiling fan, one pipe used for flag-hoisting and 60 chairs.

Raids were being conducted to arrest former MNA Syed Mahboob Shah, Adenzai Tehsil Council Chairman Feroz Shah and Balambat Tehsil Council Chairman Asim Shoaib and others wanted for violence.

The official said the charged PTI activists threw stones at the police on May 9 injuring District Police Officer Tariq Iqbal, DSP (Headquarters) Fakhr-e-Alam Khan, Timergara Police Lines officer Ghani Rehman, Balambat SHO Mahboob Shah, additional SHO Balmabat Abdul Jalil Khan and several other officials.

DPO Tariq Iqbal had constituted a team led by SP (Investigation) Zahoor Ahmad to investigate the May 9 violence in Balambat while another team led by DSP (Investigation) Syed Zaman Shah would look into violent protests in Chakdara, he added.