SARGODHA: A man, who allegedly chopped off his wife’s leg over a minor dispute, has been arrested after an encounter with the Saddar police here on Saturday.

Police said the suspect, identified as Mazhar, critically injured his wife Iqra Bibi (22) after a domestic dispute.

The police said he tied her up and chopped off her leg with a meat cleaver and fled. She was shifted to the Dr Faisal Masood Teaching Hospital by Rescue 1122.

Police said that after receiving the information of the incident, a large contingent of police started a manhunt to arrest the suspect.

Police claimed the suspect, along with his accomplices, opened fire on the police party near Sargodha Chak 75 South. He was arrested after getting injured by the firing of his accomplices during a search operation, police claimed.

A case has been registered against the accused and his absconding accomplices.

PROTEST: Vendors at the Municipal Corporation’s Friday Bazaar in the Liaquat Market of Sargodha city have protested against the contractor for unilaterally increasing the stall fee fivefold.

As per details, landa bazaar (thrift market) stall vendors alleged that the contractor had increased the slip fee from Rs500 to Rs2,500 and was forcibly collecting the newly-imposed fee.

They said that the Municipal Corporation had fixed the slip fee for Rs200 to Rs500 per stall. However, they alleged the new contractor increased the Rs500 slip to Rs2,500.

They said that despite collecting millions of rupees per month, the contractor was not providing any facility.

They claimed that there was no drinking water, shade to protect visitors and vendors from the sun, and no benches for customers.

The vendors protested against the increase and called on Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to take notice of the situation.

SUICIDE BID: A female artist of the Lucky Irani Circus died and another was shifted to the hospital after they allegedly consumed poison. Both were shifted to the hospital after their health deteriorated. However, the girl lost her life while the boy was referred to Sargodha in critical condition.

DISMISSED: Sargodha Waste Management Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rana Shahid Imran dismissed Municipal Committee (MC) 1 Supervisor Tanveer Bhatti from his job over poor performance.

As per details, during a surprise visit to the MC, residents of the area complained to the CEO that garbage had not been collected from their homes for several days. Heaps of garbage were found in many places, while cleanliness was also found to be very poor.

Mr Imran ordered dismissal of the responsible supervisor and said that providing a clean and healthy environment to the citizens was his top priority.

He warned that surprise visits to union councils would now be routinely held and any negligence would result in the dismissal of the supervisor and concerned staff.

The CEO directed deputy general managers and officials to make the system of timely cleaning of garbage containers, street sweeping and door-to-door collection more effective. He said that there was no place at the SWMC for lazy or negligent officials.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2025