Man sent to jail for taking tax from motorists

The residents of the area complained that a resident of Prayet village located on the road to the Phasti valley had started forcibly taking Rs300 tax from each vehicle passing through the village. Abdul Rauf, a councilor of Preyet, said he belongs to the Phasti valley but was settled at Preyet. He said the road to the Phasti valley had been constructed by the AKRSP about 25 years ago but nobody ever took any tax from motorists travelling on the road. A wooden bridge constructed on small stream got damaged in the 2015 floods and its wooden planks and iron bars were taken into custody by Sawada Jan who lives near the bridge. Jan promised that he would return the material of the damaged bridge when its construction would begin. But later he laid some of the wooden planks over the stream and started taking Rs300 as tax from motorists claiming that he had constructed the bridge on his own. Councillor Rauf said taking such a tax from motorists by the resident was illegal and it was nothing less than a ghunda tax. When this correspondent contacted Sawada Jan and asked about the forcible collection of money, he acknowledged that he was taking Rs300 as tax from each vehicle. He said the bridge and the road were damaged by the floods in 2015 and he repaired the road and the bridge after spending Rs600,000 from his own pocket two years ago. He said neither the government nor the local people were ready to pay him the amount. He said if the government or the district administration paid him his amount he would remove the barrier and stop taking the tax. When contacted, Assistant Commissioner Chitral Abdul Akram said local people had complained to him against Sawada Jan for taking the illegal tax. He said on his direction the police lodged an FIR against the man and arrested him.]]>