May 9, 2002	Thursday	Safar 25, 1423

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FAISALABAD, May 8: Teachers of various government educational institutions have threatened to launch a protest drive against what they termed an illegal arrest of a college professor.

Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, a group of college teachers asked the Punjab governor to direct authorities concerned for the immediate release of Prof Mehmood Ahmed of the Government College, Faisalabad.

They said an altercation cropped up between some polling staff and Samundri additional district and sessions judge during referendum’s training programme. Although the judge and his subordinate staff misbehaved with the professor and other staff, the principal, Government College, Samundri, reconciled the matter.

Despite a patch up, they claimed, the judge got registered a case against the professor who was arrested on April 29. But he was released on the intervention of high-ups of Education and police departments.

After the referendum, the police arrested Prof Ahmed and sent him to jail, they claimed.

SALARIES NOT PAID: Female teachers of the municipal schools have not been paid salaries for the last two months.

Sources on Wednesday revealed that Tehsil Municipal Administration officials could not arrange funds to pay salaries to teachers of primary, middle and secondary schools.

They further disclosed that the sanitary staff particularly ad hoc employees had also not been paid their salary for the month of April.

FIVE INJURED: Five people, including three workers of a beverage factory, were injured on Wednesday when a gas cylinder blew up at a filling unit on the Faisalabad-Samundri Road.

The workers were busy in filling cylinders at the beverage factory unit when one of the cylinders exploded with a big bang, injuring Muneer, Zahid and Shahid. The cylinder splinters also injured Sultan and Boota who were at a distance of 500 feet. They were rushed to a local hospital where the condition of one person was stated to be critical.

As is now, no case has been registered.