March 10, 2006	Friday	Safar 9, 1427

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TAXILA, March 9: The leaders of the joint opposition alliance have condemned the registration of an attempted murder case against eight local Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) activists and appealed to the Lahore High Court (LHC) to order a judicial probe into the case.

The opposition leaders including MMA leader Hafiz Mohammad Saad, PPP leader Raja Mohammad Khusro, Shabab-i-Milli President Khawaja Imtiaz, JUI leader Iqbal Awan, PML leader Riaz Hussein Shah and JI leader Maulana Ghulam Sarwar were speaking at a press conference here on Thursday.

They said over a water supply line dispute in Rehbar Colony, a union council nazim lodged a ‘false’ attempted murder case against the eight MMA activists.

They alleged that the local police officials are acting on the finger tips of government-backed political parties and influential figures.

They claimed that the case was registered to force the MMA activists to change their loyalties. They said the local influential figures were using state machinery to harass workers of opposition parties.

Meanwhile, MNA from Rawalpindi Haneef Abbassi has contacted the family members of the arrested MMA activists and assured them that the issue would be raised in the national assembly to provide them justice.

Similarly, the MMA MPA from Wah Cantonment Mohammad Waqas has condemned the registration of the cases and said he would raise the issue in the Punjab assembly to expose the role of the local police authorities.

TWO KILLED: Two persons, including a woman, were killed in separate incidents.

In the first incident, a recklessly-driven car knocked down a man on GT Road in the jurisdiction of Wah Cantonment Police Station, police sources said.

They said Zamurad was crossing the road when the car hit him and sped away.

He was rushed to a local hospital where he died. A case has been registered against the unknown driver.

In the second incident, a woman was shot dead allegedly by her brother-in-law over a domestic dispute in the jurisdiction of Taxila Police Station.

Police sources said the accused, Salahuddin, shot Asifa, mother of four, with his 30-bore pistol, killing her on the spot. He then fled from the scene. The body was handed over to the victim’s family after autopsy, while a case has been registered against the accused.