April 21, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1429

TOBA TEK SINGH, April 20: A proclaimed offender (PO) and his accomplice allegedly shot Sangla Hill Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ashiq Marth dead apparently over enmity in Chak 429-JB, Marthanwala, in Gojra Sadar police precincts on Sunday.

Iqbal, alias Bali Marth, of the same village, was declared PO in the murder case of one Arif Marth last year and the DSP was pursuing the case along with Arif’s kin Asif Marth due to which Iqbal had developed grudge against the DSP.

On Sunday, Iqbal and his unidentified accomplice equipped with automatic weapons came riding on a motorbike and called on the DSP when he was sitting along with around 15 people at his outhouse. Iqbal told the DSP to stop pursuing the murder case against him and reconcile instead but Ashiq Marth refused. Later, Iqbal shot at the DSP, killing him on the spot, and fled.

Acting-District Police Officer Rana Muhammad Iqbal rushed to the scene and later formed a team to arrest the assailants.

The body of the DSP was handed over to the family after autopsy at the Gojra THQ Hospital. The DSP left behind a widow and four daughters.

A police official said that a case would be registered against the assailants on the statement of Ashiq Marth’s younger brother Zafar Marth, who is an assistant sub-inspector of police.

According to APP, the slain officer was under suspension these days.

TRANSFERS: Brig Javed Akram (retired), a former PML-Q MPA, has alleged that PML-N parliamentarians were getting Class-IV employees of education department transferred for not voting to them in the Feb 18 general elections.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, he said that even a disabled employee had also been transferred. He said that when the education secretary cancelled the transfer orders, the local education department officials were disallowing them to resume their duties at previous slots on the behest of the district nazim.

FARES: The Regional Transport Authority fixed on Sunday Paisas 52 per kilometre per passenger fare for non air-conditioned vehicles in the district. RTA Secretary and District Officer (Coordination) Ashfaqur Rehman told reporters here on Sunday that the district administration and transporters held a meeting with District Coordination Officer Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf in the chair, which decided the new fares for buses and vans.

He added that the provincial transport authority would fix fares for air-conditioned coaches and buses. He warned the transporters of strict action if they violated the newly determined fares.

Later, the DCO and the DO (C) inspected various vehicles in Rajana and inquired from passengers about fares they had paid to the transporters and fined those who had overcharged. They collected Rs20,000 in fines from transporters who had fleeced the passengers.