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SHANGLA - Over 124 officials of Khyber-Pakhutunkhwa police on Thursday warned Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nasir Khan Durrani that they would commit self-immolation if their salaries were not paid on time.

The policemen, providing security to the Chinese engineers and workers at Karakoram Highway, have not been receiving salaries for the past five months.

Representatives of the affected policemen, Ameer Haider Khan, Muhammad Islam and Akhtar Muhammad alleged that a total of 124 ex-servicemen, who have been recruited in the KP police department for providing protection to the Chinese engineers working at Karakoram Highway, have not been getting salaries since July 1, 2016.

Of the total 124 officials, 101 constables, 20 hawaldars and three SHOs have time and against approached to the concerned officials and apprised them of the situation they have been passing through due to delay in their salaries. They said their children have also been rusticated from schools and colleges for not paying fees.

They further said that local shopkeepers have also stopped lending them daily commodities for not returning the amount already due, adding that they have now fed up with they have been facing despite the fact that police high-ups were well aware of the situation.

Most of the policemen are belong to District Swat, Shangla, Chitral, Dir and Malakand.  The ‘suffering officials’ have been recruited for the security of Chinese engineers and workers at Karakoram Highway and they are currently performing duties at China Camp in the Besham area of District Shangla.

They asked that Khattak and Durrani should take note of the situation; otherwise, they would be left with no option other than to committee self-immolation.

In this connection, when DPO Shangla Rahatullah Khan was contacted, he said though the 124 ex-servicemen had been recruited by the provincial police department, however, it is the responsibility of the National Highways Authority (NHA) to pay them the salaries.

In this regard, he informed that they have dispatched several letters to the NHA authority, but to no avail.