Access denied: Bridge blaze cuts off 5,000 people in Chitral

CHITRAL:

Unidentified miscreants ignited a wooden bridge in Chitral late on Saturday, cutting off access for nearly 5,000 people.

Koghazi police SHO Attiqur Rahman said that around 11pm unidentified people sprinkled petrol over the wooden bridge and lit fire to it. By the time the police reached the area, the bridge had been destroyed. “The bridge reduced to ashes in minutes,” the SHO said.

The 200-foot long bridge was erected over the Chitral River connecting the Prayet and Pashti villages, about 35 kilometres north of Chitral, to the main road leading into the city. SHO Rahman said that after destroying the only bridge in the area, villagers have been cut off from other areas in the region.

He said that it was the first such incident in the region. Locals speculated that the bridge may have been ignited by militants, but no such evidence has been found.

An FIR was registered against the unidentified culprits.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2012.