Shuhada package: PHC informed Rs3m for families of slain FC men approved by premier

Counsel says the amount will be handed over to bereaved relatives in the next few days

PESHAWAR:

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court was informed the prime minister has approved the provision of Rs3 million per family of the seven Frontier Constabulary personnel killed in a powerful bomb blast in Shabqadar, Charsadda in May 2011.

Counsel for the FC, Umar Zafran, shared the information with a PHC bench comprising Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali who were hearing a petition against the delay in releasing the amount to the bereaved families.

The petition states seven FC personnel were killed when a bomb ripped through a FC training centre. Nearly 90 people, including civilians, were killed in the twin bombing while around 140 others were injured.

Later, the government granted Rs0.5 million to the heirs of the deceased but the Rs3 million Shuhada package was not given.

Zafran told the court the payment has been approved by the prime minister and will be handed over to the families of the deceased FC men in the next few days.

Under the government’s Shuhada package, Rs3 million is provided to the bereaved families of police and other law enforcement officials if they are killed in the line of duty. However, many families have been approaching the high court with problems faced in getting the financial compensation.

In a separate case, accountability court judge Muhammad Ibrahim Khan ordered providing B-Class facilities to former chief minister Amir Haider Hoti’s brother Ghazan Hoti at Peshawar Central Prison.

Ghazan, former K-P IGP Malik Naveed and a relative of the former CM, Raza Ali, were produced before the court to obtain an extension of their judicial remand which was extended till September 13. They have been arrested for their alleged involvement in misappropriating Rs2.03 billion the during the procurement of weapons for the K-P police.

The case, however, is making slow progress because the court has refused to summon the incumbent FC Commandant Abdul Majeed Marwat along with five other police officials.

The National Accountability Bureau has also filed an application against the decision of the accountability court but the high court has restrained the accountability court from issuing any final order until the disposal of the petition.

Malik Naveed was arrested on November 20 last year and spent 56 days in the custody of NAB after which he was sent to prison on judicial remand. Ghazan was arrested on April 15 and Raza Ali Khan on January 6; both are also in prison.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2014.

 

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the date of the attack on the FC training centre as May 2014. This has been corrected to May 2011. The error is regretted.