MANSEHRA: Unidentified militants on Monday inflicted deep cuts on the wrists of four police constables deployed at a checkpost in Torghar district, officials sources said.

They said that militants attacked Mungrai checkpost early in the morning and overpowered the constables deployed there and cut their hands, they added.

`The incident happened early in morning. Fortunately, the hands of the policemen were not severed completely. The condition of constables is stable,` District Police Officer Iftikharuddin told journalists.

He said that all the four constables deployed at the post were asleep at the time of attack. The constables were identifled as Sher Bahar, Gul Mina, Mohammad Ismail and Mosam Khan. The militants, most probably, were linked to Tehreek-iTaliban Pakistan, he added.

The DPO said that the checkpost was established in a thick forest at a five-hour journey from the district headquarters and a two-hour journey from the link road.

`The militants used a sharp weapon to cut the hands of the constables. It is a strange incident as the assailants could accomplish their task easily,` said the official. It is pertinent to mention here that a man was killed and five others including three army men were injured in two back-to-back blasts on Karakoram Highway in Shinkiari area on Saturday.

Torghar was awarded the status of a settled district in 2012 through a presidential order as militants used this tribal belt of Mansehra district as a safe haven to carry out their activities.

ROBBERY: Unidentified robbers deprived about 36 tourists, including women, of cash and valuables in Naran on Monday, sources said.

They said that the incident took place on Jail Road where families from Karachi and Lahore were spending the night in tents. Armed men deprived all tourists present in the tents of cash, cellular phones, jewellery, wrist watches and other valuables and managed to escape, they added.

`The robbery has taken place in Naran where robbers deprived tourists of their valuables but they did not register a case,` said Khuram Rashid, the district police officer of Mansehra, when contacted by journalists.

He said that police arrested four suspects and recovered an assault rifle from their possession. He said that police had advised the tourist families against erecting tents in the area but they didn`t pay heed to the advice.