With Operation Zarb-e-Azb underway in North Waziristan Agency, the Peshawar Police launched a massive search operation on Sunday, arresting more than 118 illegal residents, including a Sri Lankan national, from the city’s Hayatabad area, bordering Khyber Agency.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Najeebur Rehman said that more than 700 police officials, including lady police personnel, were part of the operation. Sniffer dogs were also used in raids in Phase 6 and 7 of Hayatabad area.
Sources said that the police started a door-to-door search operation at about 5a.m on Sunday by cordoning off Phases 5, 6 and 7 of Hayatabad. The operation was launched after the paramilitary forces received a tip-off about the presence of suspects, mainly NWA evacuees, in the area.
Tatara Police Station Station House Officer (SHO) Riaz Khan said that the operation was divided into eight phases.
He said that most of the suspects were living illegally in Hayatabad or could not provide identification documents, adding that an investigation to determine their identity is underway.
He said that the operation was conducted to make people aware about the present Tenant Law and make them able to identify illegal residents living in Peshawar.
The government has recently introduced a new Tenant Law according to which every tenant living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should register himself with the local police and provide complete details of their family members and a No Objection Certificate (NoC) to the police station concerned.
Previously, many suspects had been arrested from different areas of Peshawar, including Hayatabad, which prompted the KP government to enact the law to trace illegal residents.