KASUR: Pattoki assistant commissioner (AC) Raja Qasim Mehboob and driver of a van died after their vehicles collided head-on on Lahore-Multan National Highway near Phoolnagar bypass on Sunday night.

Four members of a family, who were in the van, were seriously injured in the accident that took place in Phoolnagar police limits.

According to some eyewitnesses, the official vehicle being driven by the AC, collided with the van coming to Lahore from Sahiwal after crossing the road divider.

Police sources says AC Mehboob, of Jhugian village in Khushab district, got posted at Pattoki a few months back, and was going to his place of duty from Lahore, himself driving his official vehicle (LEG 492), when the accident occurred.

The van, they said, was carrying four members of a family from Sahiwal to Lahore, where they had to attend a funeral.

According to Rescue 1122, the collision occurred near Phoolnagar, resulting in instant deaths of AC Raja Qasim Mahboob and the van driver, Asghar Ali.

The injured members of the family, identified as Sadiq Khan, 60, Huzaifa Bibi, 6, Samina Sadique, 40, and Rafique Khan, 60, were rushed to Phoolnagar Trauma Centre, while police shifted the bodies to Pattoki Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

The police have yet to lodge a case of the incident.

The body of the AC was sent to his ancestral village, Jhugian, for burial after his funeral prayers were offered at Pattoki and GOR-6 in Lahore.

The Lahore commissioner, Kasur deputy commissioner (DC), other officials of administration and police, lawyers, journalists and local politicians attended the funeral prayers.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2022