Extortion calls ring alarm bells in Lower Dir

Demands from across the border spread panic among people

LOWER DIR: After complaints of letters and phone calls for extortion in Upper Dir district from the neighbouring Afghanistan, people in Lower Dir have also started received similar demands from across the border.

Local security officials told The Express Tribune on Thursday that at least 12 people have approached law enforcing agencies with complaints of extortion demands from phone numbers which have been traced to the border areas of Afghanistan. A trend which had dissipated over the past six months.

Earlier, the menace was limited to Upper Dir, they said.



“The people are feeling insecure and there was a sense of fear, sources said. The local population in border towns has asked telecom companies to block certain communication with Afghanistan.

“People doing well in their business or service have become a target for extortionists,” an official said. The fear of kidnapping for ransom, the official shared, may force people to move out of the area to more safer environs of cities and even to other provinces, he feared.

The exodus of rich and educated residents would hurt the local economy and the social and economic development too, he explained.

“We have raised our concern with the Afghan officials and asked them to act against the militants on their side,” the official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2017.