TOBA TEK SINGH: Faisalabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Awais sentenced Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) constable Usman Hameed to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs500,000 in a murder case.

The court announced the verdict on Friday in the murder case of Waqas Ahmad Gujjar.

The court also acquitted co-accused ASI Shahid Manzoor and constables Mohsin Sufian and Ghulam Dastagir as the prosecution failed to prove charges against them.

The accused were booked by the Dijkot police for firing on the vehicle of the deceased and killing him four years ago. The victim had not stopped his vehicle at a police picket after which, the accused chased him and opened indiscriminate fire, resulting in his death. The accused later claimed to have killed a robber in an encounter.

DROWNS: A minor girl drowned on Friday in the river Chenab at Shorkot, Jhang.

Rescue 1122 officials said four-year-old Iqra Bibi, daughter of Zafar Abbas of Pattan Dub Kalan, had followed her mother to the riverbank, where she was washing clothes. The mother, unaware, continued her work.

When she returned home and found her daughter missing, neighbours informed her they had seen the girl heading towards the river.

Rescue divers later retrieved the child’s body after hectic efforts.

RAPED: A man at Chund Bharwana in Jhang allegedly raped a girl who had been taken to a shrine for spiritual treatment.

The complainant stated in her FIR, registered by Massan police under Section 375-A of the PPC, that she took her 20-year-old ailing daughter to the shrine for a spiritual cure. The suspect, reportedly the caretaker of the shrine, sent the mother outside the room to fetch water while two accomplices kept her engaged in conversation.

When the woman heard her daughter’s cries, she rushed back in, where her daughter told her that the suspect had raped her.

Police have arrested the suspect along with his two accomplices.

In another case, a man raped a girl in Chak 683/24-GB at Pirmahal on Friday.

The complainant stated in his FIR, registered by Pirmahal police, that his 18-year-old daughter was alone at home when the suspect broke in, raped her, and fled. Police were conducting raids to arrest the suspect.

Also, Jaranwala Saddar police in Faisalabad arrested a man who attempted to rape a girl in the Haider Town locality of Jaranwala.

Police said the 17-year-old girl was alone at home when the suspect forced his way in and tried to rape her.

However, when she raised the alarm, people gathered and the suspect fled. Police later arrested him.

INJURED: Six people, including three students, were critically injured in a head-on collision between a university bus and a college coaster near the railway level crossing on Darul Sakina Road, Jhang, on Friday.

The coaster overturned after the crash. Rescue 1122 ambulances shifted all the injured to Jhang DHQ Hospital. They were identified as Naureen Munir (36), Sana Rashid (40), Muhammad Aslam (50), Ayesha Mahmood (15), Nadia Faheem (17), and Ayesha Abdullah (18).

ARRESTED: A man was arrested on Friday for allegedly selling meat of sick animals in Kharianwala, Faisalabad.

According to the spokesperson of the food authority, a complete inspection was conducted by a team of veterinary specialists at an illegal slaughterhouse.

The team declared the meat hazardous to health and seized 160kg of meat from the slaughterhouse.

A case was registered against the owner of the illegal slaughterhouse and he was arrested on the spot, the spokesperson added.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025