Passengers suffer as protesters block road in Kaghan valley

MANSEHRA: The traffic between Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained suspended for six hours after a group of people blocked Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road over a land dispute in Soach area of Kaghan valley on Monday.

The tourists, who had thronged Kaghan valley in a large number, and passengers travelling between GB and KP remained stranded in their vehicles on both sides of the road for over six hours.

The labourers and guards of former provincial minister Shuja Salim Khan, according to police, were expending construction of their huts when a group of people living in surrounding areas rushed to scene and restricted them not to bring more areas under construction.

The protesters also chanted slogans against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Ahmad Husain Shah, who according to them, had sold his piece of land to Shuja Salim Khan. "Two people were injured and rushed to hospital where their condition is stated to be out of danger," Inspector Jamal Zeb told reporters.

He said that as there were no mobile telephone service in the Soach area near Naran, District Police Officer Zaibullah Khan rushed to the scene along with a contingent of police and brought the situation under control.