BAHAWALPUR: Five persons died, while four others were injured seriously in different traffic accidents in Bahawalpur district on Sunday.

According to Bahawalpur Rescue 1122, in the first incident, two youths -- Shan (17) and Ghareeb Nawaz -- died while another, Rab Nawaz, suffered serious injuries in a collision between two motorcycles at Qaimpur Adda, Tallar Road near Hasilpur, about 90kms from here.

The bodies and the injured person were shifted to Hasilpur Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital.

In the second incident, two women -- Rehana Bibi (40) and Rukhsana Bibi (21) -- died after the motorcycle they were riding pillions, along with a youth, Waqas, was hit by a tractor-trolley at Kandawala Pull near Yazman, about 40kms from here. In the accident, Waqas was injured.

The women’s bodies and were shifted to the house of their relative by a Rescue 1122 team. The police have arrested the tractor driver.

In the third incident, a loader-rickshaw driver, Shan (27), died after the three-wheeler was hit by a van near Karachi More in Bahawalpur city. The van driver, Imran, suffered injuries. Besides, according to Lodhran Rescue 1122 officials, two motorcyclists – Waqas (12) and Mumtaz (25) – were injured seriously when their bike were hit by a motorcycle-rickshaw near Malikpur on Jalalpur Road.

SUICIDE: A suspect, wanted by police for allegedly raping a mentally-challenged woman at a shrine a couple of days back, “died by suicide” on Saturday night by shooting himself for fear of arrest, in the limits of Karampur police station in Vehari district.

According to the police, three suspects had allegedly raped a mentally-challenged young woman, who was brought to a local shrine by her mother.

The police had registered a case against the suspects, who had escaped. The police claim that on a tip-off that one of the nominated suspects, Abid Hussain, was present in an under-construction building, a team conducted a raid to arrest him.

The police claimed the wanted suspect was asked to surrender, but he shot himself with his pistol and died on the spot.

Karampur police SHO Malik Zaman Liquat took his body in custody for the completion of legal formalities.

Earlier, the police had claimed to have arrested the two other suspects – AM and M – saying Abid had fled away.

ARRESTED: Luddan police in Vehari district claimed to have arrested a wanted suspect in injured condition following an “encounter”at Darbar Wattanwala.

The suspect, as per the police, was wanted in 42 cases of dacoity, robbery and theft. According to PRO, a party of Luddan police, deployed at a checkpoint, spotted a suspect coming on foot. When he was asked to identify himself, the suspect allegedly opened fire, that was returned.

Meanwhile, the suspect, in a bid to flee, entered a field and was chased by the police.

The police said that during the chase, the suspect fell and suffered injuries. The police officials overpowered him and led by SHO Mian Amin, shifted him to hospital.

He was identified as Jahangir Sahoo and, as per the police, was allegedly involved in 42 criminal cases. An illegal pistol was recovered from his possession, the police say.

EX-MINISTER DIES: Former railway minister, ex-mayor of Bahawalpur MC and former PTI MNA Malik Farooq Azam died here on Sunday after a protracted illness.

His funeral held at markazi janazgah, Bahawalpur, by a largely attended by people, including politicians, lawyers and government officials. Later, he was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard here.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2026