MUZAFFARGARH: The chief minister’s flagship programme - Khidmat Apki Dehlez Per - has failed to put its marks in Jatoi tehsil for the municipal committee chief officer has been absent from office for the last four months.

Jatoi Assistant Commissioner (AC) Arshad Virk wrote to Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Sarah Aslam as well as the south Punjab local government secretary that Chief Officer Usman Saroya was transferred to Jatoi on May 18 and since then he came to the office only five times. When confronted for his prolonged absence from office, the AC claimed that Mr Saroya replied that he was engaged with the Muzaffargarh deputy commissioner and the secretary of the local government in Lahore.

The AC said that the cleanness situation in Jatoi towns was the worst one, while the tasks assigned by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar under Khidmat Apki Dehlez Per to improve green belts, cleanness, lighting, and anti-encroachment campaigns had stalled due to the non-availability of the chief officer at the station.

The AC wrote that the chief officer tried to pressurize him, using the influence of the local government secretary. Deputy Commissioner Amjad Shoaib Tareen said that he would take stern action if Mr Saroya had mentioned hisname.

HELD: The police arrested a suspect in the extortion case here on Thursday.A special team, led by City DSP Bakht Nasar, is investigating the matter.

Three days back, the health chief executive officer, the Sadar DSP and politician Jameel Shah Bukhari received letters by a courier service where extortionists demanded Rs5 million from them.

Health CEO Dr Mehr Muhammad Iqbal said that he received the letter when he was busy at his private clinic. He alerted the police. He said the police were cooperating with him and also arrested a suspect.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2021