June 11, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1423

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FAISALABAD, June 10: The government should announce a package of incentives for cottage industries and small shopkeepers instead of imposing huge taxes on them in the next budget.

Talking to newsmen here on Monday, a group of small shopkeepers, representatives of various trade bodies and office-bearers of cottage industries’ associations said they were running their business without getting any loan from any financial institution.

They said the government, instead of imposing new taxes, should promote cottage industries.

They said scores of small industrial units had already been closed down by their owners due to heavy taxes, inflated bills and continuous recession in the market. But the government agencies were playing the role of a silent spectator which could be dangerous for the national economy.

They demanded the government should announce a relief package in taxes for small traders and direct the financial institutions to provide loans to them on a soft-term basis.

TWO KILLED: A former student leader and his brother were shot dead while their father and another brother were injured by their rivals in Chak 228-RB on Monday.

Ghulam Rasool, Qalab Abbas, Abdul Raoof, Shah Nawaz and Kashif attacked Saleem Shahzad with sticks and iron rods. When Saleem’s family came to his rescue, the attackers opened fire on them. Saleem and his brother, Shafiq, died on the spot while their father, Ihsan, and brother Imran sustained serious injuries.

When some members of the Saleem group retaliated the fire, Qalab Abbas and Ghulam Rasool also sustained injuries. The injured was shifted to hospital where the condition of Imran and his father, Ihsan, was stated to be critical.

Area police have arrested Qalab Abbas and Ghulam Rasool.

POLICE CLAIM: Police claimed having arrested an Afghan national after an encounter on the Faisalabad-Sargodha Road here on Monday.

Police said two persons looted cellular phones and other valuables from a shop on the Faisalabad-Sargodha Road. After receiving information, the police set up pickets on main roads and intercepted both the bandits. They opened fire on the police party which was retaliated. In the crossfire, one of the bandits sustained injuries while his accomplice escaped.

The injured bandit was later identified as Kismat Khan of Afghanistan. The absconding bandit, Shah Wali Khan, was also an Afghan.