PESHAWAR: In recent days, a campaign against beggars was launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) provincial capital Peshawar where the district administration has arrested 1,356 beggars, including women and children, and some 21 operatives who run the activity in the buzzing city.
The drive was initiated on the directive of KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Nov 8.
Besides the district administration, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the police service of Peshawar, and the Social Welfare department of the provincial capital also took part in the campaign.
As per the information gathered by the IB, some 1,191 out of the total beggars arrested are genuinely slum dwellers while the rest have resorted to begging due to inflation.
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Another finding of the investigation has revealed that 1,088 vagabonds have chosen to beg as a profession, while 262 beggars remain under the control of the operatives who keep a strict check on them.
The district administration is proceeding with the drive under Section 144 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Local Government Act.
The Peshawar police have arrested more than 150 beggars including women during the last two weeks. However, such arrests are mostly short-term as the detained persons are able to get bail from courts shortly after being taken into custody.
According to Advocate Syed Mubashir Shah, beggars fall under the category of vagabond and can be arrested and sent to jail under the related law. Their release from prison is possible only when someone provides surety bonds for them, he further apprised. However, the law enforcement authorities concerned often avoid the exhaustive legal process, he claimed.
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“Similarly, the children involved in begging and labour, have the Child Protection Act and child protection courts for them. People involved in offenses against children can be prosecuted in the aforementioned courts,” Advocate Shah informed.
Riaz Mehsud, Commissioner Peshawar division told Bol News the drive against beggars is part of a megaproject that is intended to deal with the drug addiction issue in the provincial capital. “The chief minister wanted to start a consolidated effort against the issue of drug addiction in the capital city and the rest of the province. Thus, all stakeholders were taken on board to put together data of the beggars before taking action against them,” Mehsud informed.
He added that 12 out of the 21 handlers were also arrested by the police. “The handlers keep the beggars in rented houses. They provide them with food and transportation to their designated begging spots. Each operative of beggars has their own jurisdiction where beggars — under the control of other operatives — are prohibited to function”, commissioner Peshawar said while sharing details of the activity.
It is understood that out of the 21 operatives, only one resides in Peshawar, six hail from the Kunduz province of Afghanistan, five come from the Malakand district of KP, two are from Bannu, and one each from Lakki Marwat and Kohat. Other operatives of the beggars are residents of Sindh.
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Out of the total number of beggars, 813 come from Peshawar, while 362 hail from other districts of the province. Some 35 beggars have come from the Sindh and Punjab and 37 are Afghan nationals. The intelligence report could not verify the domiciliary status of 109 beggars.
However, the number of beggars in Peshawar could be higher as hundreds of nomads from Sindh and southern Punjab live in at least eight tent campsites in different areas of the city.
“The camps set up at areas in different localities in Peshawar are often used for other immoral activities such as prostitution as young women and even children are forced in the immoral business”, Mohammad Younus Afridi, district officer of the Social Welfare Department in Peshawar said.
Mr Afridi also apprised that his team had often faced serious threats from operatives of the dirty business while raiding the camps.
“A single beggar can make around Rs10,000 or more per day in posh areas like Hayatabad and University Town. And the estimated daily income of a beggar in the Saddar area of Peshawar is around Rs6,000,” he added.
Commissioner Peshawar remained hopeful that the drive will be a successful one and urged residents of the provincial capital to discourage beggars, particularly children.
He also informed Bol News that the government is trying its level best to house the needy and deserving lot in the shelter homes where they can be provided food, clothing, and a place to live.
