MULTAN: Two Abu Dhabi nationals were arrested by Dera Ghazi Khan police on Sunday for entering the district illegally.
City DSP Rao Jamshed Ali told The Express Tribune that since 2010, foreigners and members of non-governmental organisations had required permission from the federal government to enter the district. Sources said that the rule had been introduced following the floods in 2010, when some foreigners claiming to be involved with relief work were apprehended near nuclear installations.
SHO Chaudhary Azhar said that the two UAE nationals, Abdullah and Mubarak, had been stopped trying to enter DG Khan by Darahama police. They were produced before Magistrate Ajmal Wattoo, who sentenced them to a fine of Rs20,000 each and one month in prison for violating Section 14 of the Foreign Act. They were then taken to the DG Khan Central Jail.
Azhar said that the men had told police they had planned to hunt the Houbara bustard, an endangered bird species known locally as tilour, whose hunting has been banned in south Punjab.
He said the men did not have permission for hunting the bird. The government had in the past issued permits to Arabs for hunting Houbara bustard in Bahawalpur, RY Khan and in DG Khan.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2013.