23 March 2004	Tuesday	01 Safar 1425

SAHIWAL, March 22: The members of the District Bar Association ended their strike after 29 days on Monday on the assurance that the killers of two senior lawyers of Sahiwal would be arrested.

Punjab Minister for Agriculture Arshad Khan Lodhi gave the assurance to the lawyers on behalf of the chief minister at a meeting held at the Bar room. The minister told the lawyers that in case it was proved that DPO Malik Khuda Bukhsh Awan had been negligent he could be dismissed from the service.

Before the arrival of Mr Lodhi, different groups of lawyers held demonstrations against DBA president Mehr Qutubuddin and the members of the action committee. The minister said a housing scheme for the lawyers would also be developed.

LOOTED: Dacoits and robbers looted valuables worth of over Rs0.5 million in four strikes on Sunday night. Two masked men took away Rs38,000 from the shop of Khalid Hussain Shah in furniture market.

Robbers intercepted the vehicle (No SLJ 4637) of a private company on Noorshah-Faisalabad Road near Chak 69/4-R. They snatched Rs111,788 from salesman Ghulam Murtaza and fled away.

Some unidentified men deprived Rana Arif of his car (No LHX 4259) at Katorwala Mor on GT Road. Robbers set up pickets on Katorwala Road and snatched Rs29,000 from six commuters besides taking away a motorcycle. Meanwhile, the traders of furniture market have decided to launch a protest campaign against the police.

NTN cell: The Central Board of Revenue opened on Monday NTN cell for Sahiwal zone in the income tax complex. CBR chief automation officer Imtiaz Ahmad Khan said the board had already opened cells in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Sukkur, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Quetta, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Sargodha and Bahawalpur zones.

He claimed that new applicants would be issued computerized NTN within 48 hours. Earlier, Sahiwal zone commissioner Anwarul Haq highlighted the efforts to change the tax culture.