January 04, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 24, 1428

GUJRANWALA, Jan 3: The Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) removed 300 meters of industrial units and factories in the small industrial estate without assigning any reason to owners.

Reports said that an SNGPL team removed the meters late on Wednesday night and the owners came to know about it on Thursday morning upon being informed by the staff.

Factory owners association president Ashfaq Ahmed protested against it and demanded action against the officials concerned.

When contacted, the SNGPL chief engineer said that industrial connections were severed to fulfil the needs of domestic consumers. He said meters would be reinstalled within next couples of days with the improvement in situation.

Meanwhile, Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) chief executive Rana Muhammad Ashfaq Zahid says that some 60 connections of furnace units have been severed in an effort to accommodate domestic consumers.

RANSOM PAID: A jeweller of Alipur Chattha, kidnapped for ransom some five days ago, managed to get his release after his heirs paid Rs2.5 million to capturers here on Thursday.

Reports said that jeweller Shehzad Ahmed was on his way home after closing his shop when four armed men riding on a car had kidnapped him. Through a cell phone message, they demanded Rs5 million in ransom from the heirs for his release. However, his release settled for Rs2.5 million which the heirs paid to kidnappers near Kot Sarwer interchange. Later, the kidnappers released the jeweller in Wazirabad area.

The Alipur Chattha police had registered a case against the accused.

RELEASED: Over 100 PPP activists, who were arrested for ransacking public and private property on the GT Road after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, were released from the central jail here on Thursday.

Reports said that these activists were booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Accepting their bail applications, the local ATC ordered them to submit surety bonds worth Rs50,000 each.

National People’s Party (NPP) district president Chaudhry Muhammad Sharif Jandialvi was also among those arrested.