TOBA TEK SINGH: The Peoples Colony police of Faisalabad recovered a 16-year-old college girl in a raid at Narang Mandi, Sheikhupura, on Friday almost 10 hours after she was kidnapped for ransom.

SSP Investigation retired Capt Muhammad Ajmal and Madina Town SP Muhammad Nabil told a press conference that Liaquat Ali, a resident of Saeed Colony, complained to police that his daughter, Minahil, had not returned home from college on Thursday afternoon and he feared that someone might have abducted her.

City Police Officer Omer Saeed Malik formed a team headed by himself and police started monitoring the mobile phones of the girl and members of her family. Police traced the place of Narang Mandi where the girl was kept and recovered her in a raid and arrested Muhammad Ibrar. The suspect disclosed during investigation that he trapped the girl by making friendship with her on Facebook.

He said he and his accomplice Muhammad Tayyab kidnapped Minahil when she was returning home from the college on Jaranwala Road and took her to a place at Narang Mandi. According to the plan, he said, their third accomplice Umair Ahmad, residing in Dubai, made a phone call to girl’s father and demanded Rs200 million ransom for her release.

The SSP said the CPO had announced cash prizes and certificates for the policemen who arrested the suspect and recovered the girl.

FOOD DAY EVENT: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) marked the World Food Day and the World Egg Day on Friday by arranging a walk and a seminar.

The food day was marked by the Faculty of Food, Nutrition and Home Science while the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Faculty of Animal Husbandry set up stalls of egg dishes, which remained a centre of attraction for the visitors.

The speakers said 40pc of the world population could not afford healthy diet and the day aimed to ensure healthy food for all with the theme “Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow - climate change threats to food security”. They added that the climate changes had posed a serious threat to the world and it’s the need of the hour to join hands to address the issue.

They said malnutrition was the area of grave concern. “Although we are abundant in food, 50pc of our population is malnourished,” they said. They said poultry was the second largest industry of the country after textile. They said eggs must be made an essential part of food and these were high-value food and also decreased risk of many diseases like cardiovascular and cancer. They said egg was an important source of nutrition which contained proteins and minerals.

Students and teaching staff of poultry sciences classes of UAF’s Toba Tek Singh campus observed the World Egg Day with the cooperation of the Pakistan Poultry Association. An awareness walk about benefits of eating eggs was arranged, which was led by sub-campus principal Dr Ziaur Rehman, students affairs head Dr Farooq Khalid Kahlon and the poultry association representatives.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2022