OKARA: A young boy died from injuries sustained during a violent assault following a dispute during a cricket match in village 50/2-L on Saturday.

According to the FIR, Adnan, accompanied by his brother Babur Rehan, had gone to the village playground to play cricket when he exchanged words with another boy, Samar Hayat. Other players intervened and defused the situation.

However, Samar, with his brothers Sikandar and Abdul Rafyee and two other accomplices, attacked Babar and another boy named Khalid with bats and wickets. Adnan was severely beaten and his brother Rehan was also injured when he tried to intervene.

Upon receiving information, Adnan’s father Ali Murtaza and other villagers took the injured boys to the DHO South City Hospital. Adnan was referred to DHQ Hospital Sahiwal due to critical injuries but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The Okara Sadar police registered a case under sections 302, 148, and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Samar, Sikander, Rafyee and two unidentified suspects and of them, Rafyee, has been arrested.

ENCOUNTER: A suspected robber was injured and arrested following an alleged encounter with police, while his three accomplices managed to escape near Mari Salah Din in Renala Khurd.

According to police, four gunmen had snatched a motorcycle and cash from a villager in the Mari Salah Din area. A police patrol team was alerted and intercepted the suspects near village 4/1-AL.

Upon seeing the police, the suspects opened fire, prompting retaliatory fire. During the shootout, one of the gunmen was injured, allegedly by bullets fired by his fleeing accomplices.

The injured suspect was identified as Ittefaq, who is reportedly wanted in 18 criminal cases, including murder. He is also a proclaimed offender in a murder case.

Police recovered the stolen motorcycle, cash and an illegal weapon from the scene.

The injured suspect was shifted to DHQ City Hospital for medical treatment.

A search is underway to arrest the remaining suspects.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2025