Smuggled cars threaten Gilgit-Baltistan security

Unchecked supply of NCP vehicles from K-Pto G-B may threaten the security of the region.

GILGIT: The unchecked supply of non-customs paid (NCP) vehicles from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) may threaten the security of the region that has a track record of sectarian skirmishes.

“We are trying to deal with this issue with the help of the excise and taxation department,” Superintendent of Police Gilgit Azam Sultan
told The Express Tribune on Thursday. “Such cars can easily be used in crimes easily,” he said.

Sultan said that the policy regarding the entry of non-customs paid vehicles has not been changed, nor is it under consideration.

“Officially, they are not allowed to be transported in this area but we have reports that people somehow
bring them in illegally,” Sultan said, adding that the government should devise a plan to impose a tax on such vehicles falling in the NCP category.

He said that if an appropriate duty is levied on all the NCP cars, the government can make decent revenue out of it.

According to a rough estimate over 4,000 non-customs paid vehicles have been roaming on roads in Gilgit and others parts of the region, creating problems for traffic sergeants who are already overburdened due to the shortage of police in the region.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2010.