TOBA TEK SINGH: Two passengers were killed and 35 others injured in an accident involving a Lahore-to-Toba Tek Singh bus and a trailer on the M-3 motorway near the Samundri interchange in Faisalabad on Friday. The bus hit the trailer from the rear.

Bus driver Imran Baloch died instantly, while guard Muhammad Junaid passed away while being transported to the Allied Hospital. The injured passengers received first aid, with 15 of them later shifted to the Samundri THQ Hospital and Allied Hospital.

Also, in Faisalabad a teenage boy died after a bus hit his motorcycle at Sadhar Adda on Roshanwala bypass road. The deceased was identified as Ali Usman of Chak 48-GB, Samundri

BURIED ALIVE: A labourer from Toba Tek Singh, identified as Muhammad Riaz, died when a heap of earth collapsed on him while he was digging to install a tubewell on a farmer’s farmland in Mauza Pirwala in Jhang.

Rescue 1122 responded, but Riaz was found dead under the heavy mound of earth.

KILLED: A man killed his elder brother in Gojra’s Chak 361-JB.

Akram and Yaqoob engaged in a quarrel that escalated, leading to Akram attacking and killing Yaqoob on the spot.

After the murder, the suspect informed another brother, Ayub, about the incident.

The Gojra Saddar police arrested the accused, and an investigation is underway.

ENCOUNTER: Two robbery suspects, under police custody, were injured in an encounter on the Toba Tek Singh-Pirmahal Road near Chak 296-GB.

The City police were transporting the suspects, identified as Muhammad Asif and Kashif Akbar, members of an inter-district robbers’ gang, to recover looted valuables on their indication.

During the transfer, four accomplices of the suspects attacked the police van, attempting to free them and opening indiscriminate fire. The police responded, resulting in the injury of both suspects. They were taken to the DHQ Hospital for medical treatment.

The attackers escaped, and authorities are actively pursuing them. The suspects were involved in several dacoities in Sheikhupura, Okara, Faisalabad and Toba Tek Singh.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2023