MANSEHRA: The ANP has warned it will move the court if the PTPs provincial government deducts five per cent of the Rs4 billion development funds for Torghar district.

The warning was issued by ANP district president Shahzad Shah here on Monday.

Mr. Shah told reporters that his party`s government had sanctioned a special development package of Rs4 billion for Torghar af ter declaring it a settled district in 2012 but the current PTI government had announced a five per cent cut in it.

`We`ll never stand any cut in development budget and will move the court for relief against it,` he said.

The ANP leader, who is also the nazim of Kandar tehsil of Torghar district, said it was his party, which gave Kala Dhaka the status of a district and sanctioned a special development package of Rs4 billion for it but unfortunately, the funds were being curtailed by the PTI government.

He said before getting the status of a settled district, Torghar was a tribal strip of Mansehra district and that it had no basic amenities.

`Deduction of money from their funds is tantamount to depriving the people of Torghar of development,` he said.

NON-PAYMENT OF HONORARIUM: The nazims and naib nazims of Mansehra`s village and neighbourhood councils have complained about of monthly honorarium for five months.

`Though the second quarter of the ongoing financial year is about to end, we have still not been paid honorarium and other non-development budget and thus, adversely affecting the performance of local bodies in the district,` Safada village nazim Basharat Ali told reporters here on Monday.

He said nazims and naib nazims of 194 villages and neighbourhood of Mansehra district hadn`t been paid honorarium, office rent, stationery and utility bills for five months.

`Owners of our rented offices have threatened us with eviction over non-payment of rent,` he said.

Mr. Basharat said the village and neighbourhood council nazims and naib nazims met on Sunday and decided they would agitate if the provincial government didn`t release nondevelopment funds to local bodies.

CONSTABLE SACKED: Mansehra district police officer Ahsan Saifullah on Monday sacked a policeman and suspended two for illegally confining and torturing a citizen in a theftcase.

`The DPO has dismissed constable Mohammad Mudassir from service and suspended the services of Hafeezur Rehman and Mohammad Waqar as they illegally confined a man over a thef t,` Mansehra police PRO Jamal Zeb told reporters here.

Mr. Zeb said the three policemen took Mohammad Naveed of Khollah Hamshirian into custody in a theft case without registering an FIR and fulfilling other formalities.

He said the preliminary investigation revealed that Naveed Ahmad was innocent and that he was picked without any lawful authority.

The official said Mudassir was on probation and that an inquiry was initiated against the two others.