TOBA TEK SINGH: Scores of farmers of Faisalabad’s Chak Jhumra staged on Thursday a protest demonstration at District Council Chowk in Faisalabad against the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (Fiedmc) for allegedly delaying for the last two and a half years the payment of their trees, tubewells and outhouses located in their farmlands which were acquired from them for establishing the estate.

They parked tractor trolleys in the Chowk and blocked traffic on different roads.

They told reporters that their hundreds of acres were acquired by paying them Rs2.3 million per acre, while at that time its market price was Rs10 million per acre.

They added that Fiedmc now were selling the same land to the industrialists against Rs3 million per acre, but the payment of their costly crops, standing trees, tube wells, electricity transformers and outhouses had not so far been made.

They were carrying placards inscribed with demand from the chief minister to directly Fiedmc management to clear their dues and to open their closed sewerage water drainages which were draining out the disposal water of their houses in Sem Nullah being flown alongside the Fiedmc wall.

ACCIDENT: Eight van passengers, all of a family of Vehari, were injured when it overturned after its tyre was burst on Thursday on the Guttwala-Sahianwala motorway M-4 interchange.

Rescue 1122 shifted them to the Chak Jhumra THQ hospital.

They included Bashir Ahmed, his sons Ghulam Ghous and Mukhtar Ahmad, daughters-in-law Sajida and Shaista and relatives Ghulam Ali, Mahtab Majeed and Sajida Bibi.

Also, an electrician was electrocuted at Faisalabad in Gulbahar Colony located on Satiana Road on Thursday. Rescue 1122 said deceased Babar Bashir was laying wires at a house when his hand touched a live wire. He died instantly.

RAPE: A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a man in Gojra on Thursday.

According to Gojra’s Nawan Lahore police, the girl went outside her village Chak 332 JB with her cattle where the suspect raped her.

When people rushed to the place after hearing the cries of the girl, the suspect fled.

The police are conducting raids to arrest the suspect while the girl was shifted to the Nawan Lahore rural health centre for her medical examination.

WIFE KILLER: A man allegedly strangled his wife for honour and dumped the body into the River Ravi at Faisalabad on Thursday.

Rescue 1122 said in Tandlianwala’s Chak 53/5 GB Tukra, Allah Rakha suspected that his wife Nadia Bibi had an affair with someone, over which he strangled her and threw the body into the nearby River Ravi and Rescue 1122 divers fished out the body after hectic efforts of several hours far away from throwing place at Killianwala on Garh Fateh Shah Road.

The police shifted the body to the Tandlianwala THQ hospital for an autopsy and raids were being conducted to arrest the suspect.

ENCOUNTER: In an encounter with Jhang’s Kot Shakir police, a robber was injured and arrested on Thursday.

Police said information was received that three robbers riding on motorcycles were looting the passersby.

When the police challenged them, the gunmen opened indiscriminate fire at the police which was also retaliated in which a gunman was seriously wounded.

He was identified as Ghulam Abbas, of Mouza Thathi Khaira. The police also followed the two other suspects and arrested one of them who was identified as Riaz Baloch, of Mauza Qadir Bakhsh.

Both were wanted by Gujrat and Jhang police in robbery-cum-rape cases.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2022