Military land leaseholders break locks on their shops

DROSH: Leaseholders of shops built on military land in Drosh broke them open after giving a deadline to the authorities ended.

Local people have built about 80 shops and over 30 houses on the military land after taking it on lease decades ago. However, of late, a dispute has cropped up between the leaseholders and Chitral Scouts which led to the closure of the shops on Friday.

Amid heavy rain on Sunday, the leaseholders gathered at the bazaar and held a protest demonstration. They were chanting slogans such as “Pakistan Zindabad” and “Pak Army Zindabad.”

Addressing the gathering, Haji Shad Muhammad said the shopkeepers were not the illegal occupants of the military land but had been leaseholders for over 100 years.

He said now the Chitral Scouts had locked the shops without any justification which would never be accepted. He said they had displayed posters asking the Scouts to unlock the shops by 10am on Sunday but to no avail. After holding the brief protest, the protesters started breaking the locks and opened them to start their business as usual.

Later, they went to the Drosh police station and filed a complaint against the Scouts authorities. They said if there is any law and order situation over the matter, the Scouts authorities would be responsible.