GUJRANWALA, April 13: Twelve education department officials, including a superintendent, were served dismissal notices for their involvement in a fake certificates scam during recruitment of educators here on Thursday.

Reports said that DCO Manzer Hayat and EDO (education) Raja Khadim Husain got conducted an inquiry against these officials and found them guilty.

It was stated that they had provided fake academic certificates to candidates to make them eligible for recruitment. Those issued notices are: DEO superintendent Mirza Muhammad Siddique, Wazirabad deputy DEO’s senior clerk Muhammad Ilyas, driver of the same office M. Sarwar, schoolteachers Saleem and Arshad Mahmood, and junior clerks Altaf Husain, Shahid, Anser Chattha, Shahid Raza, Mukhtar Ahmad, Muhammad Azher and Muhammad

Arshad.

The education department had already suspended them from service while cases were also got registered against them.

STRIKE: The All Pakistan Clerks Association observed a pen-down strike in connection with its charter of demands in the second phase of the campaign here on Thursday.

Visitors had to face problems as low-paid employees of all government and semi-government departments did not perform any official work.

Association’s divisional president Tahir Mahmood Bhatti visited various state-run offices and expressed satisfaction over the successful strike.

He urged the higher authorities to accept their longstanding demand and enhance their salaries in proportion to hike in prices of daily use items.

He also announced the observing of strike in the third phase on April 20 throughout the division. He was accompanied by the APCA divisional secretary-general and other office bearers.

LIFE-TERM: A local court handed down life-term to two accused in a blasphemy case here on Thursday.

According to the prosecution, convicts Yousaf and Shahzad had set fire to pages of the Holy Quran in Garjakh on March 24, 2003.

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