GUJRAT: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will resume its anti-government drive with a public meeting in Gujranwala on Dec 25 after a gap of three weeks as the party earlier suspended its drive due to a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The party held its last public rally on Nov 29 at Timergara.

JI south Punjab emir Dr Tariq Saleem told Dawn the Gujranwala meeting to be held at Mini Stadium would be followed by another rally in Sargodha on Dec 31.

He said the JI had sought permission from the deputy commissioner for the event which was not yet granted. He said the party was determined to hold the rally as per schedule where participants would ensure wearing of masks, use of hand sanitiser and other protocols.

He said the JI wanted to expose the ruling elite through such rallies that there was no difference between the policies and performances of the ruling PTI and two other former ruling parties -- PML-N and PPP -- in terms of resolving the national issues.

Bank guard killed: A security guard was gunned down and another sustained critical bullet injury when four gunmen targeted them in a robbery at the National Bank in Mandi Bahauddin on Friday.

The gunman took away Rs10 million from the main branch of the bank. The gunmen arrived at a time when the guard was shifting Rs10 million to another branch. They opened fire and snatched the bag. When guards offered resistance, the robbers shot at and killed guard Ghulam Rasool and injured another guard Arif.

The robbers fled the scene along with the looted amount on two motorbikes. Police and rescue 1122 officials shifted the deceased and injured to the district headquarter hospital.

Mandi Bahauddin District Police Officer Syed Ali Raza visited the crime scene while a team of crime scene unit collected evidence from the site. The police said it began investigation after the registration of a case against unidentified robbers.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2020