KOHAT, Nov 19: A 28-member jirga comprising elders of the Sunni and Shia communities has been formed to restore sectarian harmony in the town after the recent riots.

At a meeting held on Monday night and Tuesday, the jirga agreed that police and other security forces should be free to arrest any person considered by them to be a miscreant or to have played any role in inciting the clashes or participating in them.

The jirga is to be jointly headed by former chief justice of Peshawar High Court Ibne Ali and former MNA Javed Ibraheem Paracha.

Meanwhile, the curfew imposed on Monday was relaxed from 3pm to 5pm on Tuesday because of difficulties being faced by people. The curfew may be lifted on Wednesday.

Constable Noor Mohammad, Kahirur Rehman and Arshad, who were killed in the riots, were laid to rest in their ancestral graveyards.

The Kohat commissioner told journalists that the two meetings of the jirga representing the two communities had agreed to cooperate with the administration.

He said he had also constituted jirgas in Orakzai and Kurram tribal regions to ensure that they remained trouble free.

DIG Dr Ishtiaq Marwat said 14 people had been arrested for their involvement in the riots which left three people dead. More than 15 shops were torched. He said arms and ammunition had been found in the homes of the suspects.

Dr Marwat told Dawn that cases of murder and terrorism had been registered against four of the suspects who had allegedly opened fire at a group of protesters and triggered clashes.

The 10 other suspects, he said, were being interrogated and would be produced in courts after the curfew was lifted.