Two workers murdered

RAWALPINDI, Oct 24: Two construction workers were murdered while another was badly injured by some four masked men here in the early hours of Monday, police said.

The incident occurred when seven construction workers were sleeping in their makeshift tent in Bahria Towns phase 8.

Sakhiullah and his cousin Tahir Khan were killed while Arif Khan, the nephew of the deceased, also came under attack and was injured critically. He was removed to the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital.

Quoting the statement of Mohammad Hayat, one of the survivors, the police said some four masked men entered the tent and after identifying them, opened fire on Sakhiullah and his cousin Tahir Khan and then smashed their skulls with an axe they were carrying.

Despite strict security check in the Bahria Towns phase 8, the alleged killers managed to escape from the scene.

Inspector Malik Mohammad Yousuf, who was leading the double murder investigation, revealed that it would be too early to say something about the motive behind the killing as the injured victim was lying unconscious in the hospital.

“Apparently, the motive behind the double murder seems to be old-enmity,” the investigating officer (IO) said.

The police said the victims belonging to Dir, had been working in Rawalpindi for the last seven to eight years.

Meanwhile, the bodies were handed over to their families after the postmortem.— Staff Reporter

Six grenades recovered

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Six hand-grenades lying in the deserted place in Banigala were recovered by the capital police on Monday, the sources said.

Some passersby spotted a suspicious bag lying under a small bridge on Lakhwal Road, Banigala and informed a police patrolling team.

The police party reached the spot and recovered the bag containing hand-grenades. Later, the police party called the bomb disposal squad which examined the grenades and found three of them were defused while remaining grenades were attached with fuses. The squad defused them and handed them over to Shahzad Town police for further legal process. The police registered a case against unidentified culprits. —— Staff Reporter

Body of missing boy found

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: A six-year-old boy, who went missing three days back, was found dead in a manhole at H-10 on Monday, police said.

Mohammad Abdullah, a resident of Mangrial Town in Rawalpindi, was a student of a school in G-8. On Friday, his driver picked him along with a girl from the school at 12:30pm and drove to Al-Huda at H-11 for some other children. After arriving at H-11, the driver went to offer Friday prayers leaving behind the two children in the vehicle.

Upon his return, the driver found the boy missing from the vehicle and the girl failed to give details about his whereabouts. A search was conducted but the boy could not be traced.

After getting information, the boy’s father Sajad Mehmood reached the spot and later lodged a report with the Sabzi Mandi police.

During investigation, the police obtained CCTV recording from a building near the spot from where the boy went missing which showed him playing in the ground for some moments. On Monday, the police along with the driver again conducted a search in the area and spotted an open manhole about 10 feet away from the place where the driver had parked the vehicle.

The police called rescue team which sucked the water from the manhole leading to the recovery of the boy’s body in it. The police said the manhole was six feet deep and the boy had apparently fallen into it while playing around. — Staff Reporter

Animals entry banned

RAWALPINDI, Oct 24: In view of the possible outbreak of Congo virus, the district government has imposed ban under section-144 on the entry of sacrificial animals in the city for selling purpose.

DCO Rawalpindi Saqib Zafar said on Monday that sacrificial animals could cause spread of Congo virus among the residents.

He said the residents could purchase the sacrificial animals from three cattle markets established on Ratta Road, Aalam Rawat and Adiala Road. He said that dispensaries had also been established at these cattle markets to vaccinate the animals. — Online

Dry weather likely

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Dry weather is likely to prevail in most parts of the country while isolated rains are likely in Kashmir, Gilgit- Baltistan during the next 24 hours.

According to Meteorological Department, weather will remain dry in Islamabad Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan during next 24 hours.

While isolated rain/thunderstorm is expected in hilly areas during the next 24 hours as westerly wave is moving across Kashmir and likely to move further north-eastward.

Scattered rain/thunderstorm occurred in upper Punjab, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir during the last 24 hours. Weather remained dry elsewhere in the country.

On Sunday the lowest temperature of zero centigrade was recorded in Kalam, while Mitthi in Sindh witnessed the highest i.e.

38 centigrade. At least 33mm rain was recorded in Malamjabba during the last 24 hours.

Rainfall in other cities including Pattan, Gari Dupta 30mm, Dir 25mm, Kalam 23 mm, Saidu Sharif 19 mm, Murree 17 mm, Drosh 11mm, Muzarrafabad 10 mm, Peshawar, Chitral, Kamra 08mm, Sialkot, Kakul 06 and Mangla 05mm. — APP

Land grabbers held

TAXILA, Oct 24: The police here claimed to have busted a gang of land grabbers and arrested its four members besides recovering arms from their possession. The police said Noman Hussain along with Usman Hussain, Imran Hussain and Babar Ali were involved in a number of land grabbing cases. Three rifles, two pistols and ammunition were recovered from their possession, said the police.— Correspondent

Date extended

TAXILA, Oct 24: The University of Engineering and Technology (UET) has extended by one day the last date for depositing of dues and documents for the newly-inducted BSc engineering students.

Director Academics Mohammad Saeed Akhtar Malik told newsmen that the decision was taken after the federal government announced Monday as a public holiday. He said now the last date would be October 27.— Correspondent

Man found dead

CHAKWAL, Oct 24: The Saddar police have found the body of a man who was tortured to death by unknown persons, police said.

According to police, the body was found lying in the Saoj Nullah near Moreed village at Talagang Road. The man who was in his late 30s was tortured to death a few days ago, said the police. — A Correspondent