SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: A First Information Report has been registered against four leaders of banned Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) for allegedly threatening a local tribesman for lodging a complaint against a senior leader of the movement.

The PTM leaders reportedly delivered speeches during a jirga of Mehsud tribe in Makin tehsil on December 30, 2024.

Sources said that the FIR was registered by SHO Makin Taimoor Khan Mehsud against PTM leaders Alamzeb Mehsud, Survekai subdivision mayor Shah Faisal Ghazi, Sherzada Khan, and Sararogha village council chairman Ishaq Mehsud.

According to the FIR, the accused allegedly made threatening statements against a local tribesman, Rasool Mohammad, as he had filed a complaint against Malik Naseer Khan Kokikhel, a prominent PTM leader from Khyber, at the Makin police station.

Upper South Waziristan district police officer Arshad Khan confirmed the registration of FIR and said that the accused had asked the Mehsud tribesmen to raze the house of Rasool Mohammad and expel him from the area.

Ishaq Mehsud, one of the accused, was arrested by the Upper South Waziristan police from Dera Ismail Khan on December 6 in connection with another FIR.

Alamzeb Mehsud, a social worker and banned PTM leader, expressed his disappointment over the registration of the case, stating that it was against local traditions.

He alleged that Ishaq Mehsud was tortured in the DPO office before being shifted to Makin police station.

Survekai subdivision mayor Shah Faisal Ghazi, who is also nominated in the case, condemned the registration of the FIR, saying that they had not hurled any threats against Rasool Mohammad. He emphasised that they had only made speeches against the registration of FIR, which they believed was an illegal act.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2025