GUJRAT: At least 10 shops were gutted when a fire erupted in a plaza in the city’s main commercial hub of Muslim Bazaar on Friday.

According to Rescue 1122 officials, the shops were closed when fire erupted in the plaza located in a congested area, as Friday is observed as a weekly business holiday here.

The officials say that on being called, a Rescue 1122 team comprising 15 firefighters and seven fire engines reached the scene and extinguished the blaze.

As per initial findings, they say, the fire was caused by an electric short circuit.

Though the exact losses are yet to be estimated, the locals as well as Rescue workers say that commercial goods worth millions of rupees were burnt in the blaze.

MURDER: A former schoolteacher and lumberdar was allegedly gunned down by a drug addict on Thursday night at Machiwal village in Daulat Nagar police precincts.

As per police sources, Lnumberdar Muhammad Khan was returning home from his outhouse, when the suspect, Raziullah Abbas, of the same village, along with his three accomplices, intercepted him and opened fire.

As a result, Khan sustained bullet injuries and was later shifted to Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital (ABSTH), where doctors pronounced him dead.

Upon being informed, police and Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) teams arrived atthe village and collected evidence from the crime scene.

The police have registered a case against the suspect and his three accomplices, under sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the report of the victim’s son Khizar Hayat, and started investigations.

The police, quoting local sources, say the suspect is hooked on ice drug and was earlier jailed in another murder case. However, he was later acquitted due to legal lacuna in the case.

However, they say the motive behind the lumberdar’s murder is yet to be ascertained.

The victim was a retired school teacher and a prominent figure of the area.

This is the second murder during the last 24 hours within the limits of Daulat Nagar police station, as earlier, a 13-year-old boy was found dead in a storm water channel. He was reportedly kidnapped from Khanowal village on Wednesday last.

The police say investigation in both the cases is underway.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2026