April 27, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429

GUJRANWALA, April 26: Bus crews threw traffic out of gear on the GT Road to protest the torturing of their colleagues by students of Technical Education Vocational College on Saturday.

Police rushed to the spot and dispersed the protesters after a light baton charge.

Reports said that students kidnapped a bus driver and two conductors and fractured an arm of one of the conductors as ‘punishment’ for not carrying them to their college. Students manhandled driver Haji Muhammad Sheikh when he refused to take them to their institution. They did not spare conductors Iftikhar and Imran and thrashed them when they tried to rescue the driver.

The students later took them to the college where they were again subjected to torture during which one arm of Imran was fractured. Receiving information, the police raided the college and recovered the driver and conductors from the custody of students.

WARNED: DIG Zulfikar Cheema has warned the newly-posted SHOs and other senior police officers to check crimes in their respective areas or be ready to face the music.

The newly-posted DIG sent the word of warning during a meeting at his office here on Saturday. The SSP (Operation), DPOs and other senior police officers were also present.

The DIG has already suspended from service some 80 per cent SHOs of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Narowal, Mandi Bahauddin and Hafizabad for negligence and failure to control heinous crimes.

HEARING: The Anti-Terrorism Court No 1 continued the hearing of Sialkot jail incident case and recorded the statement of former SHO Zulfikar Ali Virk here on Saturday.

The accused told court that he was posted at the Zafarwal (Narowal) SHO when his senior officers called him in Sialkot jail for playing his role to get hostage judges freed on the day of operation.

He said that he had held talks with prisoners for the release of judges, but to no avail. He denied that he had taken part in the operation.

The accused SHO alleged that conspiracy had been hatched to kill him after an operation in the Sialkot jail. To save his life, he said he had managed to escape from the police custody with the help of his colleagues. The court adjourned the case till May 3.

OPPOSED: The local chamber of commerce and industry has opposed the construction of a commercial plaza on a railway land near the level-crossing.

At a meeting held here on Saturday chaired by chamber president Riaz Mahmood Bajwa, the participants said the disputed plaza would only create gridlock on GT Road.

They suggested that only T-type flyover should be constructed on a priority basis to resolve traffic snarls.