FAISALABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), PML-N and PPP candidates are contesting by-polls for NA-103 being held on Sunday. The three candidates are from the Baloch clan.

The PTI has fielded Saadullah Baloch, son of former federal minister Nasir Baloch, PML-N Ali Gohar Baloch, brother of former MNA late Raja Ali Baloch, and the PPP candidate is Shahadat Baloch.

Elections for the NA constituency and PP-103 were postponed after independent candidate Mirza Mohammad Ahmed committed suicide during electioneering for the July 25 polls. Following his death, the returning officers of NA-103 and PP-103 stopped elections for both constituencies

Nazar Abbas, of NA-103 constituency, said they wanted to get their long awaited issues like the availability of potable water and elimination of Hepatitis C resolved. He said Hepatitis C was prevailing in the area and no campaign was ever launched to save people from the virus.

Former chief minister Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo also tried his best to get PTI ticket for the seat, however, the party went for Saadullah Baloch. Saad also struggled a lot for the ticket.

PML-N’s Jaffar Ali Hocha will face PTI’s Shamsher Haider Wattoo in by-election for PP-103.

Up to 389 polling stations were established for the polling day, and of them 80 have been declared sensitive.

THREE KILLED: Three people, including two siblings, were killed in separate incidents in Batala Colony and Dalowal areas.

Saba Hameed and her younger sister, Sana Hameed, were found dead in their house in Amin Park in the limits of Batala Colony police on Thursday night.

Submitting an application with the police, their father, Abdul Hameed, said Saba was married to Muhammad Sarwar about three years ago and Sana got married to Sarwar’s younger brother Akram about one year back. He said both sisters were living in the same house.

Mr Hameed added Akram had called him on Thursday night to inform him that unidentified persons had killed both Saba and Sana by slitting their throats with a sharp-edged weapon. He said hands and feet of both his daughters were tied. One Jameel had seen two persons leaving the house of his daughters in panic.

In the second incident, Feroza Bibi, 32, was allegedly killed by her husband, Muhammad Amin, of Chak 248-RB, Dalowal.

Dijkot police had booked Amin, his second wife Fatima Bibi, Ghulam Mustafa and his wife, Rani Bibi, and two unidentified persons.

Aamir Shabbir, brother of Feroza, told the police that his sister was strangled to death as her husband used to press her to bring money from her parents.

ARRESTED: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday arrested two persons and seized more than two dozen passports from their possession.

FIA additional director Sajid Akram said Shaukat Ali and Asad Hayat were coming to Faisalabad from Jhang in a car.

On a tip-off, the car was searched by the FIA team which found 25 Pakistani passports and Rs520,000 in it.

During the initial interrogation, the suspects disclosed that the passports had been collected by them from different persons to send them to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. They had received Rs80,000 from each passport holder.

The suspects were working as the sub-agents for the Silver Star Travel Agency, owned by Irfan. The accused persons could not produce any document or legal justification for possession of the passports.

A case has been registered against the suspects and Irfan.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2018