Festive firing: 130 cases registered, 160 charged in 10 days in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Over 130 cases were registered and 160 accused were charged during a campaign against festive firing in the provincial capital during the last 10 days, a senior police official said on Tuesday. The Capital City Police have launched a campaign across Peshawar to discourage celebratory firing at weddings and other functions. The practice has increased many times during the last few years.

“As many as 137 cases were registered against 160 people for aerial firing in weddings and other occasions, endangering the lives of the general public,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Operations, Javed Iqbal Wazir told The News.

He added that the station house officers had been directed to specifically register cases against those involved in firing or else charge the bridegroom so he can produce the culprits. The SSP Operations said that the officials heading the sub-divisions and the police stations also carried out an awareness campaign in their areas to discourage the practice. “We will extend and accelerate the awareness campaign against the celebratory firing by involving elders, elected representatives, religious scholars and people from all walks to life so no one goes for shooting in the air to put the lives of public in danger,” said the official, who has taken over the charge of the deputy city police chief a couple of months back. Thousands of rounds are fired into the air in Peshawar, especially the rural and suburban towns, putting the lives of a number of people at risk.

At least 23 cases were registered in the limits of Chamkani Police Station, 20 in Khazana, 19 in Daudzai, 10 in Regi police stations during the last few days. A minor was killed in the limits of the Badaber Police Station on March 24 when a stray bullet hit him. A large number of people have lost lives while many paralysed when hit by stray bullets in Peshawar and other districts of the province.

The police officials said that a total of 287 cases were registered against 370 accused for aerial firing in the last almost three months. The campaign, however, has been accelerated since March 15.

A large number of people were arrested and charged for aerial firing in the last few weeks. However, they are released the very next days or even after few hours for not enough punishment under the law. There were reports that the government is mulling over law to increase punishment in the festive firing cases to discourage the practice.