TOBA TEK SINGH: Faisalabad’s Sahianwala police registered on Tuesday a case against 689 farmers, of Salarwala villages, irrigated by the Rakh branch canal’s Akbanwala western water channels, for stealing water from the canal.

According to a first information report registered on the complaint of sub-divisional canal officer Noor Ahmad Shakir under sections 430 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 70 and 74 of the Canal and Drainage Act of 2016, the farmers broke water supply shutters of canals and channels, created a number of underground outlets and drained water through pipelines into their crops. The irrigation department got the matter probed and later on decided to launch a criminal case.

The Sahianwala police said the inquiry was underway.

ATTACK: An accused of a murder attack case was shot at and injured critically on Monday by his rivals in Faisalabad when he was returning home after appearing in the court of a judicial magistrate.

The Kotwali police said Nauman Anwar, of Chak 209-RB, was attacked on Agriculture University Road. He was shifted to the Allied Hospital.

ARRESTED: The Toba Tek Singh City police arrested a Sindh-based gang of rustlers and seized cattle worth Rs5 million, a truck and weapons from them.

The police said the robbers were traced through geofencing of mobile phones.

The gang used to bring truckloads of bananas from Sindh to Faisalabad markets and while returning, they would lift cattle from outhouses in various villages along the motorway. More than one dozen cattle lifting cases were registered against the gang.

The police recovered 10 cows, two buffaloes, three calves and 25 sheep while raids are also being conducted to arrest their more accomplices and recover more animals.

The arrested suspects are Noor Hussain, of Kashmor, Gul Hassan, of Sukkar, and Mirza Jaffar Baloch, Ghulam Shabbir and Nasir Ali, all of Shikarpur.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2022