BAHAWALPUR: A ‘crime scene wing’ has been established at the DPO office here.

Briefing the media about the wing, DPO Sohail Habib Tajik said the wing was aimed at saving and protecting evidence at crime scenes, dispatch the evidence to laboratories and get sentences awarded to criminals from courts.

He apprised reporters of all investigation kits and gadgets, including high-standard imported modern cameras for transparent photography of a crime scene. He added trained police personnel had been posted in this wing and modern tools would be provided at all tehsil headquarters in the district.

On the occasion, the Cotton Ginners Association office-bearers donated six laptops for the wing. The district had already been provided a crime scene van.

The DPO also claimed to have busted a gang of motorcycle rickshaw and motorcycle thieves and arrested six members, including Muhammad Shabaan alias Shabani, Muhammad Husain, Ghulam Zakir alias Jumma, Mushtaq alias Kulli, Khuda Bakhsh and Muhammad Farooq.

Two stolen rickshaws and a motorcycle along with looted money and arms were also recovered from their possession.

ASWJ: Leaders of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) protested on Saturday against the killing of their workers in Karachi as well as other parts of the country.

ASWJ Karachi Secretary-General Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqui, Central Secretary-General Khadim Dhillon, provincial Additional Secretary Rao Javed Iqbal addressing a protest rally here at Fawara Chowk warned the government if the killings of ASWJ activists were not stopped by their ‘opponents’ in Karachi and other areas, they could retaliate.

They claimed the ASWJ was against sectarianism and working to promote religious harmony and brotherhood, but those against democracy and religious parties could not tolerate their mission.

Participants in the rally demanded the government pull Pakistan out of the war on terror, which they claimed was only meant to protect interests of the US and other Western countries.

Farooqui said the heads of all religious parties would meet on Feb 16 in Lahore to discuss a united strategy to confront their ‘opponents’ who he claimed were trying to hamper maintenance of peace and tranquillity .