LAHORE, Feb 23: Garden Town police launched on Thursday a house-to-house search operation in Jevan Hanna village and took 23 people into custody.

Garden Town ASP Tariq Aziz told Dawn that the operation began at 9pm and lasted till midnight covered 21 hostels, junkyard dealers and residents of slums targeting those dealing with narcotics business.

He said 303 people were checked and 19 of them were taken into custody for their dubious not having identity documents. He said police also seized a half kilogramme chars and 20 bottles of liquor.

The ASP said Thursday’s search operation was carried out to check suspicious elements and such operations would continue in Garden Town and Faisal Town in the future.

Shot dead: A 35-year-old security guard was shot dead allegedly by his rivals in the Punjab Housing Society in Defence area on Thursday.

Defence A police said Akhtar Khan of Mansehra was standing outside his master’s house when his rival, Tasleem Khan, along with accomplices reached there and shot him dead.

Akhtar was pursuing the murder case of his paternal uncle and father-in-law against Tasleem.

The police shifted the body for autopsy.

MURDERED: A 16-year-old boy was found strangled in a plot near Iftikhar Building in Chauburji on Thursday.

Mozang police said the victim was yet to be identified.

SUICIDE: A young man committed suicide by swallowing poisonous pills following a quarrel with his elder brother in a textile factory on Raiwind Road on Thursday.

Raiwind City police said Naeem took poison after a quarrel with his brother, Nadeem. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.

The police handed over the body to family after legal formalities.

ACCIDENT: A 42-year-old man was killed after being hit by a car on Wandala Road in Shahdara on Thursday.

The police said Rafique was crossing the road at the time of the incident.

Suspended: Inspector General of Punjab Police Habibur Rahman has suspended from service a deputy superintendent of police on account of inefficiency and poor performance.

According to a handout issued on Thursday, Faisalabad Samundri Circle SDPO Ahmad Nawaz Shah, the then Lahore Lower Mall circle SDPO, has been suspended on charges of negligence and poor performance.

The IG ordered the DSP to report to the Punjab Police Headquarters.