MANSEHRA: The incidence of molestation in Mansehra is on the decline as 22 such cases were reported in the district last year compared to 29 in 2013.

In a crime report issued here on Monday, district police officer Mohammad Ijaz said more boys in the district were subjected to sexual assault in 2014 than girls.

`As suggested by the cases reported to the police, 12 boys and 10 girls were molested in Mansehra last year,` he said.

The DPO said the crime incidence had dropped in the district as the local police registered 5,371 criminal cases in 2014 compared to 5,710 in 2013.

He said the police had been making every effort to further cut the crime rate.

Ijaz also said the number of killings in encounters with the police was also declining.

He said the district police killed 119 criminals in encounters last year compared to 136 shot down in the 2013 clashes.In the report, the DPO said the kidnapping incidence was also decreasing as 109 people, both men and women, were kidnapped in the district last year compared to 121 taken hostage in 2013.

He said the police arrested 657 outlaws last year and that the number would go up due to the ongoing clampdown on criminals.

Ijaz said the arrested outlaws were wanted in cases of murder and attempted murder and other crimes of heinous nature.

He claimed the arrests led to a reasonable decrease in the district`s crime rate.

The DPO said the district police seized a cache of arms and ammunitions besides arms, including 77 kalashnikovs, 150 rines, 386 shotguns and 1,318 revolvers and pistols, and rounds and bullets in large numbers. He said around 365 motorists were either booked or fined in the district last year for violating traffic rules.

Ijaz said the district police referred 134 cases of marriage, land and monetary disputes to the local dispute resolution council formed by the inspector general of police and that all of them were set-tled out of court.

PROTESTERS BOOKED: The local police booked 10 people under the anti-terrorism act for blocking Karakoram Highway to protest their alleged excesses.

Scores of people had blocked the highway for hours on Sunday (Jan 4) claiming a local resident, Abdul Rashid, had died of anxiety after the police picked up his son in a fabricated firing case and kept him in illegal custody for three days.

The protesters had placed the body of Abdul Rashid on the highway demanding registration of FIR against SHO and others behind the `illegal` arrest and confinement.

On Monday, the police on Monday registered an FIR against 10 people for inciting others to violence and blocking the strategically important highway.

Among those booked under ATA 6/7 and 148/149 CRPC were Mohammad Shakil, Mohammad Bashir, Abdul Waheed, Mohammad Shafgat, Mohammad Aslam Mohammad Khursheed, Mohammad Gulfam, Mohammad Rafique and Mohammad Faisal.