Four killed in accident

MUZAFFARABAD, April 4: Four persons were killed and nearly a dozen others injured when a passenger wagon plunged into a ditch on Monday.

The vehicle was coming to Bagh from Forward Kahuta when it met the accident near Lasdanna village amid heavy downpour, police and eyewitnesses said.

Three persons died on the spot and at least 12 others were injured, one of whom succumbed to his wounds in hospital.

Meanwhile, a labourer was killed and his two colleagues were seriously injured after being buried under (marble) stones they were unloading from a truck in Mirpur on Monday. The deceased was identified as Afzal Khan, a resident of Malakand. —Staff Correspondent

Two shot dead

RAWALPINDI, April 4: Two people were shot dead in different parts of the city on Monday, police said.

In the first incident, Zafar Iqbal a labourer working at a coal store, was shot dead by unidentified persons in Ghareeban village in the Saddar Bairooni police area.

Hamidullah Khan, a cousin, said Zafar Iqbal and his colleague, Karim Niazi, had come to his house on Sunday night but soon left saying they would return after having their meal. “After some time Karim Niazi returned but soon disappeared without giving any details about the whereabouts of my cousin Zafar,” Hamidullah said. He said when he got concerned, he and other family members started looking for Zafar. They finally found his body in Ghareeban village early Monday morning.

Similarly, a 35-year-old man was shot dead outside his house in Jhanda Chichi on Monday night.

The victim’s wife told the police that her husband, Zulfiqar Ali, was at home when he received a call on his cellphone. She said when he went out to meet the caller he was shot. She said on hearing the gunshot, she rushed out and found her husband lying on the street. Zulfiqar was shifted to Benazir Bhutto Hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead. —Staff Reporter

Man commits suicide

CHAKWAL, April 4: Depression drove a man to commit suicide on Monday, sources said. Khaki Jan, 38, a resident of Talagang city, was suffering from depression after developing some domestic problems. On Monday he ended his life by swallowing poisonous pills. —A Correspondent

Pindi gets new CPO

RAWALPINDI, April 4: The deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Azhar Hameed Khokhar, has been posted as City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi on Monday, official sources said.

The newly posted CPO Azhar Hameed will assume the charge of his office on Tuesday at a simple ceremony and will receive briefing on his arrival. The CPO office was lying vacant since the transfer of Fakhar Sultan Raja in December 24 last year after the killing of five spectators in a car racing event held in Bahria Town on December 5 and the current charge of the CPO was given to the Regional Police Officer Hamid Mukhtar Gondal.

Meanwhile, most of the police officers whose ranks and postings had been withdrawn by the Punjab government last month in the wake of the Supreme Court directives, has assumed their duties. —Staff Reporter

booked for beating cops

CHAKWAL, April 4: Three persons were booked on the charges of manhandling police personnel, sources said on Monday.

Talagang police personnel during their night duty at a picket tried to stop a car for checking. At this the car driver Shaikh Umair and his two friends came out of their vehicle and started beating policemen. After the incident the miscreants fled away. A police official said that all the three young men were drunk and armed. Police are trying to trace them. —A Correspondent