Elders protest police officers’ visit to Mohmand district

GHALLANAI: The tribal elders on Thursday staged a sit-in and blocked a road to traffic for hours to protest police officials visit to Mohmand tribal district.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Mardan Range Muhammad Ali Gandapur, Mohmand Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Wasif Saeed and other officials visited the district to identify potential sites for setting up police checkpoints, police stations and lockups as well as to discuss security issues.

In the meantime, tribal elders were holding a jirga against the extension of the police system to the district. They became furious after they came to know about the visit of the DIG to the district.

The tribal elders belonging to Baizai, Haleemzai, Khwezai, Pandyalai, Ambar and other areas gathered and staged a sit-in in Chanda Bazaar and blocked the Bajaur-Peshawar road to traffic for four hours.

They said the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) federal government had passed a bill under the name of Riwaj Act in the name of introducing reforms in the ex-Fata.The elders alleged that the law was imposed on the tribespeople against their will.

They claimed Governor Shah Farman had assured the tribal elders of taking them into confidence before introducing any change in tribal areas but police system was being extended to tribal areas without taking them into confidence.