BAHAWALPUR: The district police claimed to have arrested five nominated suspects allegedly involved in an extortion case concerning a doctor.
At a press conference here on Thursday, City Circle Sub Divisional Police Officer Abdul Ghaffar said following the recent firing incident involving Dr Hasnat at Fowara Chowk, Bahawalpur DPO Rana Abdul Wahab had formed a special team, headed by Kotwali Station House Officer Tahir Iqbal, to arrest the suspects.
The SDPO said the five arrested suspects were currently being interrogated and the outcome of the investigation would be shared with the media. He said their names had been withheld for investigative purposes.
He added that police had so far recovered a 30-bore pistol allegedly used in the firing from the arrested suspects.
It merits mentioning that last week, the suspects had allegedly targeted a man, who was shot and wounded and was subsequently admitted to a local hospital.
Lal Sohanra project: As much as Rs5 billion have been utilised for the eco-tourism project at the Lal Sohanra National Park and another Rs2 billion more will be spent on the project.
This was said by Bahawalpur Commissioner Irfan Ali Kathia, who inspected the under-construction work at the park, said a statement on Thursday.
During the visit, the commissioner was briefed by Lal Sohanra Park DFO Haroon Tufail and other officials of the building department.
The commissioner said that the eco-tourism project, which depended on desert-forest environments, was being completed in accordance with international standards. He said that the project’s construction and development works were being executed by four groups.
He said that the work included over 150,000 feet of chain-link fencing with the construction of gravel roads inside the park, 10 watchtowers with checkposts, a bridge on the lake, picnic sheds and an information centre to facilitate tourists and visitors.
He said that special measures would be taken for the preservation of flora and fauna in the park, particularly for the breeding and promotion of black bucks, which were being nourished here for the past several years and had their separate enclosures.
He directed the building department’s officials to strictly maintain the quality of work, transparent utilisation of government funds and ensure the completion of the project within the stipulated time period.
Later, the commissioner inspected the canal desert branch at the park, where Bahawalpur Zone Irrigation Chief Engineer Muhammad Faisal briefed him about the canal’s water discharge and its desilting process. The commissioner directed to ensure availability of water supply to farmers during the Rabi season.
ANTI-DENGUE DRIVE: A vigorous anti-dengue awareness campaign was launched in as many as 666 non-formal schools in Lodhran district from Thursday.
According to the Lodhran DEO (Literacy), students, teachers, parents and all concerned would be informed about the disease.
Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2026
