Education emergency?: Suspected arsonist arrested for torching school
GPS Koz Bazkot was constructed in 1992 and lying defunct since.
SHANGLA:
After a search operation and preliminary investigation, Besham police arrested a man allegedly responsible for setting Government Primary School (GPS) in Koz Bazkot, Shangla on fire.
According to officials, Rozi Khan was arrested after 20 persons of interest were taken from the area after the school was torched on Sunday. GPS Koz Bazkot was non-functional even though its construction work was completed in 1992.
Besham police SHO Habib Shah said on Sunday that two rooms were completely torched, as were the belongings of one Jan Sadar who seemed to be occupying the premises. Rozi is said to be the son of Sadar.
Doors and windows also turned to ashes in the inferno which was extinguished by locals. Shah said the village is at a short distance from Besham.
“The school had not been made functional by the government as yet, even though the construction was completed ages ago,” added Shah. There was no school furniture or other records found in the building,
he said.
The person who had provided land for the school had been using it as a barn for his livestock and turned the premises into a warehouse of sorts, added the police official.
DEO Saeed Khan said the GPS was not officially on the record as it had not been handed over to the district education department by the contractor.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2014.
After a search operation and preliminary investigation, Besham police arrested a man allegedly responsible for setting Government Primary School (GPS) in Koz Bazkot, Shangla on fire.
According to officials, Rozi Khan was arrested after 20 persons of interest were taken from the area after the school was torched on Sunday. GPS Koz Bazkot was non-functional even though its construction work was completed in 1992.
Besham police SHO Habib Shah said on Sunday that two rooms were completely torched, as were the belongings of one Jan Sadar who seemed to be occupying the premises. Rozi is said to be the son of Sadar.
Doors and windows also turned to ashes in the inferno which was extinguished by locals. Shah said the village is at a short distance from Besham.
“The school had not been made functional by the government as yet, even though the construction was completed ages ago,” added Shah. There was no school furniture or other records found in the building,
he said.
The person who had provided land for the school had been using it as a barn for his livestock and turned the premises into a warehouse of sorts, added the police official.
DEO Saeed Khan said the GPS was not officially on the record as it had not been handed over to the district education department by the contractor.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2014.