Public wants drive against aerial firing,drug sellers, gamblers

Action against usurers gains momentum; several held in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have launched a campaign against usury but the public also want the force to go after those indulging in aerial firing, selling drugs, gamblers and other crimes that have recorded an increase in the province over the last few years.

Several campaigns were launched against aerial firing, gambling and drugs throughout the province in the past but no significant achievement could be made.The sale of hashish, heroin as well as ice and other synthetic drugs is still going on and thousands of people are consuming them every day. Even the use of liquor has recorded manifold increase among the educated and well-off youth as their sale and delivery is going on unchecked.

Majority of the people are getting drugs from the tribal areas, particularly Khyber Agency, where the political administration has miserably failed to check this menace.Though a number of their drugs selling shops near the boundary with Peshawar have been demolished, the flow of all kinds of drugs to Peshawar and rest of the province is continuing unabated.

The police recently launched a campaign in Peshawar against drug dealers and several were rounded up. “However, the business is going on in the provincial capital and other parts of the province. The use of ice and other synthetic drug has particularly increased,” said resident.

The same is the case with the aerial firing. Not only in Peshawar but throughout the province, aerial firing has become a custom in weddings and other festive occasions. The menace registered a decrease in the past when the police arrested the violators. The practice, however, has increased in recent years.

The revelers now use crackers that cause huge explosions, which panic the people. Even the police had to rush in panic to find if any terrorist attack has happened.Besides, gambling and betting have deprived a large number of people in the province of millions of rupees as the trend has increased in the recent past.

There are reportedly a number of bookies who have been dealing in millions everyday on cricket matches, currency and other items from places only known to their customers. The bookies use cellphones to avoid arrests.

A campaign was recently launched in the province against usury, another social evil that has deprived people of millions of rupees. In Peshawar, over 45 people were apprehended during a crackdown against money lenders who get high interest on the loan they lend to the needy people, who end up selling properties.

The provincial government supported the campaign after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed an act to discourage this menace. Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani at a recent meeting directed the regional police officers to go after the usurers. A group of police officers also briefed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and other government officials about the progress made so far in the campaign.