Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police sources have claimed that the forest fires that erupted some days back were possibly deliberate. According to details, the KPK police made a shocking revelation regarding the forest fires in KPK in the past few weeks causing property and life losses.
The forests were set ablaze to get relief package money from the government, the police claim. At least 12 people have been arrested for igniting the fires, the forests were private and were set ablaze to claim monetary benefits from the government, the KPK forest department claims.
According to the police, four of the detained are from Abbottabad, four from Swat, 2 from Lower Dir, and two were from Khyber. The arrested will be persecuted under the forests act of KPK. According to a forest department spokesperson, only three government-owned forests were set on fire. At least four people including three women were killed as fire erupted in Swat’s mountainous forest, Chaksair on Saturday.
The locals had said that fire broke out at four locations in the Swat mountains namely Brekot, Charbagh Kot, Kabal Segram and Chaksair. Officials had claimed that the wildfire started on the K-P site but due to strong winds, it spread to other areas, including Sherani and Musakhail.
