MANSEHRA: Students at the government high school in Khushala area here have been attending classes under the open sky due to a delay in the reconstruction.

“The provincial government allocated Rs50 million for the Khushala school’s reconstruction after its demolition three years ago, but the project is still unfinished,” resident Sardar Safeer Ahmad Gujjar told reporters here on Friday.

He said that the education department demolished the building but couldn’t persuade the government for its early reconstruction and therefore, students were facing the brunt.

The resident said that though the education department rented a nearby building for students, it lacked sufficient spaces, forcing many students into sitting outside even in inclement weather conditions.

Residents threaten to take to streets

He said that the locals repeatedly took up the issue with the education department and district administration for early action, but no progress had been made.

“Whenever it rains, moststudents don’t come to school,” he said.

Mr Gujjar demanded that the government ensure an early release of funds for the completion of the school’s reconstruction.

He warned that if the demand wasn’t met, residents, including parents of schoolchildren, would take to the streets.

HELD: The police have arrested two men for allegedly assaulting and blackmailing a ninth-grader in the Shinkiari area here.

SHO of the Shinkiari police station Anas Khan told reporters on Friday that two of the three suspected child assaulters had been taken into custody.

He said that the suspects recorded their victim’s explicit videos and threatened to release them on social media if he didn’t meet their financial and other “unjust” demands in future.

The schoolchild’s father had reported the assault to the police.

The SHO said that the police arrested two suspects in a raid and started investigating them.

He said that one of the suspects wasn’t directly involvedin the offence as he facilitated the others.

CHARAS SEIZED: The police on Friday arrested narcotics peddlers in Lower Kohistan district after seizing a total of seven kilogrammes of charas.

In a news release, the police said that an anti-narcoticsoperation was under way across the district on the orders of district police officer Mohammad Umar.

They said that the police seized a large cache of charas, ice drug and other contraband, and arrested drug pushers.

The police said a team led by SHO of the Pattan police station Sardar Shah raided a den of narcotics dealers, recovered 2,000 grams of charas and 90 grams of ice drug, and arrested Shamsur Rehman and Noor Mohammad.

In another raid, a police team led by SHO of the Dubair police station Israr Ahmad Khan seized 5,000 grams of charas and arrested a narcotics peddler.

The police said that the crackdown on narcotics would continue across thedistrict for the protection of people’s health.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2024