GUJRANWALA: A massive fire at a plastic factory gutted a huge stock of products, raw material and machinery and damaged its structure near the Kacha Emanabad Road on Sunday.

According to workers, the fire broke out in a section of the factory because of a short circuit. The workers saved their lives by rushing out of the exit door.

The firefighters and fire engines of Rescue 1122 along with teams of Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) reached the scene.

The Gepco teams suspended the power supply to the factory and the adjoining buildings to stop the fire from spreading.

The factory owner, Abdul Ghafoor, said thousands of plastic plates that were ready for delivery turned into ashes. He said four machines were completely destroyed while a huge quantity of raw material also gutted.

Rescue 1122 officer Syed Abid Kamal said the firefighters took two hours to control the fire. There was no loss of human life.

RAPE: A man was booked for allegedly raping a minor boy in the Gulshan-i-Rehman locality.

The seven-year-old boy, a resident of Gulshan-i-Rehman, was playing in his street when the suspect, a resident of Khokhar Colony, lured him to a nearby graveyard and raped him there. The passers-by heard cries of the child and seeing them, the suspect ran away.

Khyali police registered a case against the suspect on complaint of the child’s father.

ARRESTED: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) arrested a patwari taking bribe at Mandi Bahauddin.

ACE deputy director Fareed Ahmad told Dawn one Shoaib had submitted an complaint, stating that Patwari Muhammad Asif had demanded Rs20,000 bribe from him for issuing a mutation deed for his land in Phalia, Mandi Bahuddin.

The ACE team, in presence of a magistrate, arrested Asif taking bribe from Shoaib in a café and registered a case against the suspect.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2019