Mansehra police raid houses of Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders

MANSEHRA: The police raided the houses of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders here on Saturday.

However, no arrest was made as the police didn’t find PTI leaders at home.

Raids were conducted on the houses of former MNA Salah Mohammad Khan and former adviser to the chief minister Babar Saleem Swati in Baffa and Mansehra areas, respectively.

PTI sources claimed that Mr Salah had gone into hiding since the police began a crackdown on the party’s activists over the May 9-10 violent protests against the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

They said the police were to arrest the former MNA’s son as well but he fled before the raid.

The police also raided the house of PTI Youth Wing leader Kamal Saleem Swati but didn’t find him.

Eleven PTI activists were detained here after the May 9-10 riots but the police freed them all on the bail granted by the local courts.

KILLED: A resident was killed and another suffered critical injuries when two groups traded fire over a land dispute in Rehgalla area here.

Firing victims Mohammad Mubarak and Ahmad Idrees were shifted to the King Abdullah Teaching

Hospital, where the doctors pronounced the former dead and referred the latter to the Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad due to critical condition.

The police registered an FIR and began raids to arrest the gunmen.

Meanwhile, the police on Saturday carried out “search and strike” operations around the sites of development projects being executed by Chinese companies here.

The police personnel searched around 150 houses and places in Darband, Jabori and Balakot areas and quizzed the residents, according to the police.

They said the search and strike operation would be carried out in other parts of the district as well, while measures were being taken for the safety of foreigners.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2023