TOBA TEK SINGH:A Faisalabad Customs Collectorate Enforcement (CCE) team, led by Inspectors Dawood Gahi and Fahad Virk, seized foreign smuggled goods worth over Rs95 million during a raid on a bus and a truck at the Kot Bailian interchange on M-14 motorway.

A CCE official stated that the confiscated items included foreign-made motor tyres, cigarettes, cloth, dry milk and pan chalia. Two suspected smugglers were arrested and the vehicles, along with the smuggled goods, were seized.

Two cases were registered against the suspects.

DIE ON ROAD: Three motorcyclists died in two accidents on Friday.

In the first incident, a car collided with a motorcycle on Gojra-Jhang Road near the Jhang branch canal bridge at Chak 430-JB.

Rescue 1122 said Faheem Ashraf, 30, and his father, Muhammad Ashraf, 59, were travelling from Jhang to Gojra when a car coming from the opposite direction hit their motorcycle. Both died at the scene.

In another accident at Rajana near the Lundoo canal bridge on Toba-Chichawatni Road, a motorcycle collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction. The impact caused the motorcyclist and his pillion rider to fall onto the road, where a tractor trolley ran over one of them. Muhammad Saleem, 45, died instantly, while the injured pillion was taken to DHQ hospital. Both were heading to Faisalabad from Burewala, Vehari.

ARRESTED: Faisalabad police arrested a man in a lawyer’s uniform, identified as Hammad Butt, for creating panic by indiscriminate firing in the district courts complex on Friday.

According to an FIR registered under Section 7 of the ATA and 337-H of the PPC, Kotwali Police SHO Muhammad Umer said Butt and his four accomplices, all wearing lawyers’ jackets, resorted to aerial firing, causing harassment in the complex.

A police spokesperson said that Hammad Butt is not a member of the District Bar Association (DBA) and is involved in several criminal cases. Police are conducting raids to arrest his accomplices, who fled the scene.

In another incident, Civil Lines police arrested a suspect, Muhammad Naveed, outside the courts complex with a pistol in his possession.

COURT: Additional District and Sessions Judge of Faisalabad Sajeeda Akhtar, sentenced Safdar Hussain to nine years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs100,000 in a narcotics case on Friday.

According to the prosecution, Thikriwala police arrested Hussain a year ago and recovered a substantial quantity of narcotics from his possession.

UAF: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) will host a three-day international stakeholder workshop and exhibition on the ‘Industrial Hemp Value Chain’ from Jan 15.

The event will bring together experts from China, the US, Japan, Mongolia, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Italy to discuss challenges and opportunities in the industrial hemp sector.

UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan has formed a committee for the workshop, with Dr Saddam Hussain as the chief organiser and Dr Assad Farooq as the co-organiser.

The workshop aims to explore the potential of hemp as a sustainable resource and to shape its future in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2025