SARGODHA, April 29: An additional sessions judge from Bhalwal has directed the police to register a criminal case against the owners of a chemical factory located on Lahore-Sargodha Road for draining toxic water into a pond that killed five people of a family a few months ago.

Proceeding on an application filed by plaintiff Sher Muhammad, judge Qaiser Nazeer Butt summoned the applicant and the defendants, heard them and finally directed the police to register a case against Crystalline Chemicals owners former provincial minister Aamer Sultan Cheema and his father Anwar Ali Cheema, who is member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

However, the police had not registered a case against the Cheemas till 11pm on Tuesday.

Five people of a family died on March 11 when they were trying to rescue their buffalos from a pond filled with the toxic water released by the factory.

Aamer Cheema said the incident had taken place six kilometres downstream, adding his political opponents might have poisoned the pond to implicate him and his father in the case. He said a water treatment plant was working properly at the factory and that some people also used to drink the water drained out from the factory.

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