CHITRAL: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Lower Chitral secretary Fazle Rabi Jan on Sunday said the allegation about the recovery of drugs from the official vehicle of the district zakat committee chairman should be investigated and its details be made public.
In a statement, he said if the allegation turns out to be true, all those responsible behind it should be punished.
And if the allegation was made without any proof, the responsible elements behind it should also be exposed and taken to task in accordance with the law.
It may be mentioned that a social media post alleging that 10 kg charas and 20 bottles of wine have been recovered from the official vehicle of District Zakat Committee Chairman Muhammad Qasim at Bakrabad police checkpost went viral on Sunday.
However, Chitral police station house officer (SHO) Sajjad Hussain rejected the allegation. He said stopping vehicles and checking them at the picket was a routine but no contraband was recovered form the vehicle of the zakat committee chairman.
The SHO also said Shafiqur Rehman, a local leader of the ruling PTI, who was driving the vehicle, visited the police station and lodged his protest over stopping and checking of the official vehicle at the picket.
Later, Shafiqur Rehman told local reporters that he is the joint secretary of the PTI Malakand division labour wing and also works as the personal secretary to the district zakat committee chairman.
He said on Sunday morning he was coming to Chitral town from his home in Atani in the official vehicle of Mr Qasim when a head constable at the Bakrabad picket stopped him and started checking the vehicle.
In the meantime, he added, a group of PTI workers appeared from the opposite side and seeing the official vehicle being checked they stopped and one of them, Shahid Ahmed, was seen filming the police checking the vehicle from his mobile phone.
He said at the same time, PTI Lower Chitral president Sajjad Ahmed had also passed by but without stopping there.
Mr Rehman said there was no charas or any other illicit item in the vehicle but his opponents within the party had tried to tarnish his image by circulating the baseless allegation in the social media.
He said there were differences between Mr Sajjad Ahmed and Mr Qasim, adding the Facebook account from where the post was shared was fake.–Syed Nazir Hussain Shah