TOBA TEK SINGH: A baby boy was kidnapped from his mother’s hands by car riders in Faisalabad on Thursday.

In her first information report (FIR), registered with Batala Colony police, Sana Bibi, the wife of Muhammad Saddam of Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, said she was begging along with her seven-month-old baby, Ahmad Ali, at Lodhi Chowk when a car stopped near her and three riders, including a woman, called her to give her food and alms.

They took her son from her on the pretext of expressing love and sympathy with him. As soon as she gave them her son to hold, they drove away in their car towards Satiana Road.

CCTV footage shows the car riders kidnapping Sana’s baby. She ran along the car by catching its door’s handle but she fell on the road after running along the car for about a hundred metres. She received injuries as she fell on the road.

The City police said CPO retired Capt Muhammad Ali Zia formed two teams of police and CIA staff, headed by SP Iqbal Division, to arrest the unidentified kidnappers.

TREES: Dr Irfan Ahmad, chairman of the Department of Forestry of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), says Pakistan’s forest cover was limited to only 4pc, compared to the international standard of 25pc due to which climate change and pollution problems are aggravating.

He was addressing an event held in connection with the International Day of Forests on Thursday.

Dr Ahmad said the UAF had planted more than 9,000 new plants during the spring to make the campus greener that would not only increase its aesthetic beauty but also help reduce pollution and other issues.

Dr Tahir Siddique termed it national responsibility to keep our city and surroundings green and clean. He urged the people to take active part in the tree planting drive.

Horticulture Director Dr Ahmad Sattar said the UAF was one of the best green universities in the world and due to its greenery, the temperature of the campus was one to two degrees better than the rest of the areas of the city.

Dr Muhammad Raheed, Dr Asif and Dr Haroon Rasheed said it was inevitable to raise awareness about tree planting campaign at the public level.

ARRESTED: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested two persons involved in hundi and illegal currency exchange business.

A spokesperson for the FIA said Abdul Mateen and Abdul Majeed were doing business in their office in Motor Market on the Jhang Road from where the team also recovered cash worth Rs3.6 million, two Afghan citizenship cards and two mobile phones along with nine registers of transaction record.

JARANWALA: In connection with the rehabilitation of victim families of the Jaranwala church attacks, 150 victims were given utensils, beds and food items for their daily life by Bishop Dr Andreas Rahmat in Faisalabad.

The Bishop assured the victims that efforts would continue to fulfill the needs of all those who had faced loss of their houses and valuables during the mob attacks six months ago.

Christian leaders, including Fr Abid Tanveer (Vicar General), Fr Bonnie Mendes, Fr Khalid Mukhtar and Father Zafar Iqbal, also spoke.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024