GUJRAT: The Punjab government on Thursday transferred Gujrat District Police Officer (DPO) Rana Umar Farooq and surrendered his services to the federal ministry of interior and narcotics control while posting SSP Akhtar Farooq as the new DPO.

Official sources claimed the DPO was transferred after the chief minister recently expressed displeasure during an official meeting over the poor law-and-order situation and the increase in murder incidents in Gujrat district.

The transferred DPO had served in Gujrat for the past eight months as such postings usually lasted for at least a year.

Sources said that Rana Umar Farooq was likely to be posted for his next assignment by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police.

The transferred DPO relinquished his charge with immediate effect and held a farewell meeting with his staff earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the Punjab government posted SSP Akhtar Farooq, a grade-19 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan, as the Gujrat DPO.

BURNT: Three people, including two women and a 14-year-old boy, sustained burns after cylinder gas leak in their house in Mojoki village on Thursday.

Reports said women were busy in cooking when the gas nozzle caught fire, injuring Tanzeela (35), Sidra (32) and Arslan.

Rescue 1122 staff extinguished the fire and shifted the injured to the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2026