SAHIWAL: The district police have failed to track down a former gunman of slain politician Rana Ahmed Ali a day after he was nominated by the family in the murder case.

Muhammad Atta Bugti was nominated in the FIR after the friends of Rana Ahmed saw him and his two accomplices in the room where the murder took place.

A spokesperson for the Pakpattan DPO told Dawn over phone that four teams of investigators were raiding various places but they had yet to find a clue to the whereabouts of Atta.

Police believe Atta, a resident of Balochistan, might have fled from Punjab to a neighbouring country for having a border with Balochistan.

Rana Ahmed’s son Mian Naveed Ali, a PML-N MPA, told Dawn that he had no doubt about Atta Bugti’s involvement in the murder. “His (Atta’s) handlers are somewhere else,” he added. He said he was satisfied with police efforts and hoped that they would track down the assassins soon.

The veteran politician was shot dead at his residence on Hota Road in Pakpattan city on Friday.

Police found his body in the bedroom with multiple gunshots and initially took four or five people including Rana Ahmed’s gunmen into custody for interrogation. Police registered a case against Atta and two unidentified persons on the complaint of Naveed under sections 302, 109 and 34 of PPC.

WHEAT TARGET: The provincial food department has increased Sahiwal division’s wheat procurement target from 407,000 metric tonnes to 504,000 tonnes.

Deputy Director Food Amir Muhammad told Dawn that in line with the Punjab Food Department’s decision to enhance the wheat procurement target, the target of Sahiwal had been increased.

Earlier, Commissioner Ali Bahadur Qazi chaired a meeting in which he directed the food department officials to achieve the wheat procurement target till May 15.

He expressed concern over slow procurement in Okara and asked the food authorities to meet the target.

CHESS CONTEST: Three dozen players participated in the district chess championship held under the auspices of the Punjab Chess Association here at Gymkhana Stadium.

District Sports Officer Chaudhry Abdul Qayyum says there was no age category and all participants were allowed to play chess.

He said the final round was won by Muhammad Jamil while Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Awais secured second and third positions, respectively.

Ghulam Abbas, PCA provincial president, distributed prizes and trophies among the winners.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2022