GUJRAT: A man was arrested on charges of blasphemy for making a false claim of being a messenger of God in Kotla Arab Ali Khan town on Tuesday.

A local trader of Kotla Main Bazaar alleged in his complaint lodged with the Kakrali Police Station that the suspect, a resident of Chakanwali village, arrived in a local mosque after the Asr prayers and asked the worshippers to listen to him.

A group of worshippers gathered around him and he claimed that he had been assigned the responsibility of a messenger by God since he belonged to the generation of Hazrat Ayub Ansari.

They took him to a nearby shop where the man again made the same claim, which the complainant recorded in his cell phone.

Kakrali police arrested the suspect and registered a case against him under sections 298 and 295A of the PPC.

The suspect was presented before a local court where the judge sent him to the district jail on a remand of 14 days.

ENCOUNTERS: The suspect who stabbed a 12-year-old boy some days ago was killed during an alleged encounter in Gujranwala.

A spokesman for Gujranwala police said Sajjad Hussain was arrested for stabbing the motorcyclist boy, Abdullah, in a bid to snatch his motorbike on Oct 30 in the Saddar police area. The attack left the boy critically injured.

Sajjad was being taken to a place for recovery by the police when his four accomplices opened fire to get him free.

During the shooting, the suspect was shot dead “by the firing of his own accomplices who managed to flee”.

In another alleged encounter, a suspected drug dealer was killed also by “the firing of his own accomplices” in the Saddar area of Wazirabad.

The spokesman said Khalid Mehmood was wanted in drug cases and he tried to escape with the help of his accomplices who opened fire at the police.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2026