Tag: Karak

  • SNGPL cracks down on gas theft, imposing Rs3 crore in fines

    SNGPL cracks down on gas theft, imposing Rs3 crore in fines

    In an ongoing endeavour to combat gas theft, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has successfully identified and addressed 55 instances of unauthorised gas connections, resulting in the imposition of fines amounting to Rs30 million.  

    According to APP, these concerted efforts have been executed across various regions of Pakistan. 

    According to a company spokesperson, within the city of Lahore, the local SNGPL team has taken decisive action by discontinuing 15 gas connections due to unlawful gas consumption, in addition to two connections linked to the unauthorised use of compressors.  

    Furthermore, 47 cases of underbilling have been meticulously scrutinised, leading to the initiation of a First Information Report (FIR) against the offenders. 

    In Bahawalpur, the SNGPL team has demonstrated their commitment by disconnecting seven connections attributed to compressor usage and 16 connections associated with unauthorised gas consumption.  

    Additionally, 17 cases of underbilling have been diligently processed. The company has levied a fine of Rs40,000 on those engaged in pilfering gas. 

    In Multan, 11 connections have been severed due to illegal gas consumption, while nine have been disconnected for compressor usage. Six instances of underbilling have undergone rigorous examination, resulting in the imposition of appropriate fines. 

    In Sheikhupura, one connection has been disconnected due to compressor usage, and a comprehensive review of 63 underbilling cases has been undertaken.  

    In both Peshawar and Karak, 44 gas connections have been terminated owing to direct gas consumption and the presence of illicit connections. Additionally, two FIRs have been filed against those involved in gas theft. 

    In Rawalpindi, six gas connections have been discontinued due to direct and unauthorised gas consumption, with one connection linked to the use of compressors. 

  • Mob managed to destroy Hindu temple due to ‘cowardice’ of policemen, says KP IG

    Mob managed to destroy Hindu temple due to ‘cowardice’ of policemen, says KP IG

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Sanaullah Abbasi criticised the police officials over their failure to confront the mob that demolished a Hindu temple in Karak last week, saying the extremists were able to destroy the religious site due to the “cowardice and negligence” of the policemen.

    IG Abbasi told reporters outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday that at least 92 policemen were present at the site but they failed to control the mob. “I have suspended 12 police officials,” he said after a hearing of the temple demolition case at the top court.

    According to the IG, the protestors remained peaceful until an inflammatory speech by cleric Molvi Sharif — who also led a mob in a previous demolition of the temple in 1997, reported AFP.

    During the hearing, the chief justice of Pakistan directed the KP government for the immediate reconstruction of the temple. “You have to recover money from the people who did this, from Molvi Sharif and his followers,” Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said.

    He said the mob destroyed the temple with impunity, while ordering the authorities to submit a separate report on the attack.

    While no Hindus live in Karak, devotees often visit the temple and its shrine to pay homage to the Hindu saint Shri Paramhans Mahaaraj, who died there before the 1947 partition of the Sub-continent. It is the fourth holiest Hindu worship site in Pakistan.

  • Nine people arrested after mob sets ablaze Hindu temple in Karak

    Nine people arrested after mob sets ablaze Hindu temple in Karak

    After a mob provoked by local clerics destroyed a Hindu temple in Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Wednesday, police have detained nine suspects in the case.

    Videos making rounds on social media showed thick smoke billowing from the site as men used hammers to damage the walls of the building. They also set it on fire.

    Local clerics had told authorities that they would be organising a peaceful protest against the alleged expansion of the 100-year-old temple, Rahmatullah Wazir, a police officer told news agency, Reuters. But the clerics started giving “provocative speeches,” prompting the mob to set the temple ablaze.

    Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari condemned the attack and urged the provincial government to “ensure culprits [are] brought to justice.”

    District police chief Irfanullah Khan told Reuters nine suspects had been arrested following the attack.

    The temple, first built in the early 1900s as a shrine, was vandalised in 1997. In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered it be reconstructed. 

    “We will stage a protest in front of the Supreme Court against the attack on our temple which is one of the four largest holy sites of the Hindu community in Pakistan,” Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, head of the Pakistan Hindu Council and a ruling party lawmaker, told Germany’s dpa news agency.

    “This is not the first incident of its kind, unfortunately intolerance towards religious minorities has been growing in Pakistan for the last five years, with more frequent attacks on places of worship,” said Hindu rights activist Kapil Dev.

    In July, a mob attacked the construction site of the first Hindu temple in the capital, Islamabad.