SHEIKHUPURA, Oct 7: Raw material and machinery worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes when a cotton mills caught fire late on Thursday night near Bhikhi on Sheikhupura-Faisalabad Road.

Reports reaching here on Friday said that the fire broke out in Usman Maqbool Cotton Mills, engulfing the whole factory within no time. The fire also badly damaged the machinery.

Fire brigades from Sheikhupura and Lahore reached the spot and brought the fire under control.

The cause of the fire could not be ascertained.

arrested: The Farooqabad Saddar police have smashed a four-member gang of cattle lifters and recovered from their possession more than 30 cattle, a truck and valuables worth Rs4 million, besides a cache of sophisticated weapons.

District Police Officer Syed Ibne Husain told a press conference at his office on Friday that the suspects had taken away six cattle from Dhinger Batth village in the Farooqabad Saddar police station precinct by a truck.

On a tip-off, he said, SHO Muhammad Abbas-led team chased the thieves and had an encounter with them near Baho Chowk. They arrested Yousaf alias Zulfiqar gang’s Iqbal, Riaz, Hakim and Ashfaq and recovered from their possession 24 cattle and sophisticated weapons, in addition to other valuables.

The DPO quoted the arrested men as confessing in preliminary interrogation that they were carrying out illegal activities for the last several years.

Meanwhile, the Sheikhupura and Nankana police have arrested 20 proclaimed offenders and 28 other criminals during a general hold-up launched on the special directions of the IGP.

The police teams have arrested contraband worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from them.