TOBA TEK SINGH: A Rescue 1122 team and Faisalabad’s Millat Town police rescued on Sunday three minor children from a house of Usman Town on Faisalabad-Lahore Road who were locked and ill-treated by their father.

Rescue 1122 said the wife of Allah Ditta, a factory worker, left him some two years ago while Ditta forcibly kept the children - Fatima, 7, Faizan, 5, and Shaban, 4 - with himself. The people of neighbourhood noted the suspect would often beat the children and did not feed them well.

In his absence, neighbours would sneak in meals and drinks for the children. They finally decided to rescue the children and first, they pinned the man, shifted the children to an adjacent house and informed police and Rescue 1122 about the situation.

The police arrested Ditta while the children were admitted to Allied hospital for their psychotherapy treatment. The city police said a case will be registered against Ditta on the complaint of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau in charge while the children will be handed over to their uncle (father’s brother) after their medical examination.

WALL COLLAPSE: Four people were injured critically on Sunday at Faisalabad in Factory Area’s Laal Mills Chowk when the wall of an under-construction plaza fell on them.

Locals with Rescue 1122 officials removed the debris and rescued them. They were found seriously wounded and shifted to the DHQ hospital. They were identified as Salman Tariq, 18, Ali Raza, 22, Abdul Rehman, 24, and Muhammad Ramzan, 48.

FIRE: Cotton bales and other materials were gutted on Sunday at the Fiedmc Industrial Estate in Chak Jhumra area in a hosiery factory as a result of a fire which broke out suddenly. Rescue 1122 reported the cause of the fire could not be known.

Talib Hussain, 51, and Zahid Amin, 30, fell unconscious due to heavy smoke. They were treated by Rescue 1122.

Also, a Faisalabad food authority team raided a fake gurr (jaggery) and brown sugar manufacturing factory on Sunday on Faisalabad-Rajana Road. An official said that instead of using sugar cane juice, the factory people were using chemicals, prohibited food colours, glucose powder and sugar in the preparation of both gurr and shakkar.

The team sealed the factory and seized chemicals, fake food colours, glucose, 500 kg of sugar and hundreds of kilograms of prepared gurr and shakkar.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2022