Kohat traders want refugees restricted to camps
KOHAT, May 13: The business community here has called for expulsion of Afghan refugees from residential areas and bazaars, asking the government to restrict them to their respective camps.
Representative of former councillors, Inayatullah Khan, and local traders said that the refugees were residing in city areas in rented houses, while a large number of them had bought shops and houses. They said that all refugees were using mobile phones obtained on fake identity cards.
They claimed that 95 per cent encroachments in the bazaar were due to refugees, but the administration was not taking notice of it. Besides, they said that some refugees were also driving passenger vehicles on fake licences.
The traders say that the government rules strictly prohibit the entry of refugees into the city, owning or hiring houses and use of mobile phones, but the administration is not interested in implementing the law. They said that the refugees’ presence and running businesses had been causing trouble to citizens and contributing to increase in crimes.
They asked that under which law the local administration had allowed refugees to live and do business in the city limits.
They alleged that the refugees still travelled between Afghanistan and Pakistan and bring in illegal money to invest in property business.
TWO DIE ON ROAD: Two persons were killed in an accident on Rawalpindi road here late on Saturday.
Billitang police said that one Kashif, resident of Gumbat, was coming back to his hometown along with his friend on a motorcycle when it collided with a truck near Nari Kak area. Both Kashif and his unnamed friend died on the spot.
The police impounded both the vehicles and have registered the case.
Meanwhile, Hangu police arrested 10 outlaws, including five proclaimed offenders, in an operation on Sunday.
The police identified the five proclaimed offenders as Watan Khan, Rafiuddin, Sajid Ali, Mohammad Yousaf and Nasir Khan. They also claimed to have recovered two Kalashnikovs, two kilograms of hashish, cash and fake currency notes from them.