LAKKI MARWAT: A huge fire destroyed a gas cylinder outlet in Miryakhel area of Bannu district on Sunday.

The fire, which erupted due to gas leak, engulfed the shop within no time, shopkeepers said, adding they immediately called Rescue 1122 and police to help extinguish the flames.

By the time the police and rescue personnel reached the venue, the fire caused the shop’s roof to cave in.

A Rescue 1122 official said they dispatched a team of firefighters along with fire trucks and ambulances to the site when the control room received information about the incident.

He said the firefighters put out the fire after an effort of half an hour and saved the adjacent shops and markets from being caught by the flames. He said though the shop was damaged extensively no human loss occurred.

Meanwhile, festive firing at a wedding function took the life of a young man in Bannu on Sunday, police said.

Mandan police station Assistant Sub-Inspector Mir Shah Jehan said he along with a party was on patrol in the area when they heard gunshots in Kafshikhel locality.

He said after initial investigation he came to know that a bridegroom, Qasim Khan and his relative, Umar Hayat and others resorted to festive firing.

The official said the firing panicked the residents.

He said before the police could arrest the suspects, a man was killed by celebratory firing in the rural locality.

The ASI said two hours after the registration of a case against the suspects, a complainant, Mosam Khan, a resident of Kafshikhel locality, informed the police that his son, Jamroz Khan, 30, was killed in the firing.

The complainant told the police he was at home when someone informed him that the body of his son was lying in the District Headquarters Hospital.

He said he immediately reached the hospital and found the body of Umar, who had been killed with a firearm.

The complainant told the police that his son was allegedly killed by Umar Hayat.

The police said the body was handed over to relatives after postmortem.

A case was registered against the suspected killer under section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code.

SIX ARRESTED: The police arrested six suspects and seized arms and ammunition from their possession during a search and strike operation in Domel area of Bannu on Sunday.

An official said the operation was launched on the directives of district police officer Ziauddin Ahmed following credible information about the presence of anti-social elements in the area.

He said that a party of Domel police station raided the hideouts of criminals and held six suspects without facing any resistance.

“The cops also seized two Kalashnikovs, a Kalakov, three pistols and bullets from the arrested men and registered separate cases against them,” he claimed

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2024