QUETTA, Aug 26: The law-enforcement agencies on Monday foiled an attempt to destroy a gas pipeline supplying gas to Punjab and the NWFP and defused a landmine planted near the pipeline near Sui.

Police sources said that some unknown people had planted the landmine near the main gas pipeline. However, some people informed the law-enforcement agencies about the presence of the landmine near the pipeline.

The members of the law-enforcement agencies rushed to the area and defused the landmine.

A case has been registered against unknown outlaws.

Nadra: The Director-General of National and Database Registration Authority (NADRA), Balochistan, Brig (retd) Bartur Hussain Naqvi has said that one million computerized National Identity Cards (NIC) have been prepared and about eight hundred thousand distributed amongst the people in the province.

Speaking at a Press conference in his office here Tuesday, he said 12 swift registration centres were functioning in various districts and two mobile vehicle teams were contacting the people to expedite the process to help people get computerized cards before Dec 31, 2003, the last date for the expiry of old ID cards.

He further said that district registration offices in all 26 districts of Balochistan were functioning in district headquarters for the provision of forms, collection of documents and distribution of computerized cards to help people in remote areas of the province.

He said swift registration offices to speed up the process had been established in Quetta, Pishin, Loralai, Zhob, Chagai, Khuzdar, Hub, Panjgur, Turbat, Sibi, Nasirabad, and Jaffarabad.

The NADRA DG said that at least three million forms had been given to the people and the organization had received over one million correctly filled forms.

He said that Balochistan’s population according to the 1998 census was over six million and only 28 per cent population had obtained computerized cards while 72 per cent of the population was yet to get new cards. He said that awareness in the rural was necessary to complete the process.

He said that the mobile vehicle contact experience was very successful as in the district headquarters registration offices only 5 to 20 people deposited forms on daily basis, but mobile teams received 400 to 500 forms daily.

The NADRA DG said that a vigilance committee had been tasked to check illegal forms filled by Afghan or Iranian nationals to get computerized cards and added that issuance of the computerized cards were processed after verification and attestation by quarters concerned.