0
SIALKOT, March 31: Hundreds of farmers, cultivators and landowners demonstrated against the forced acquisition of their land by the government at cheap price to establish a housing colony for the low-income earning people.
Residents from Gadaarey and Kullowal, holding banners and placards inscribed with protesting slogans, blocked Airport Road for about 90 minutes by parking their tractor trolleys in the middle of the road. They said they were dependent on their lands for their subsistence, but the provincial government was forcibly acquiring their land to build the colony on Airport Road.
Earlier, the government had to cancel its plans to set up an industrial zone in Sambrial when scores of farmers protested against the forced acquisition of their lands by the government.
The protesters asked Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi to take note of their reservations and grievances and postpone the project.
RANSOM: Kidnappers on Saturday released the nephew of a local trader after receiving Rs0.5 million ransom from the family in Chawinda, Pasrur tehsil. Reports said some armed men had kidnapped Mohsin Kabir, the nephew of trader Sarfraz Ahmad, from in front of his house in Chawinda on Friday and demanded Rs0.5 million ransom for his release.
The trader told newsmen that the kidnappers had released Mohsin after the family paid Rs0.5 million. Phalora police have registered a case against two accused Ali and Muzammal with no arrest in this regard.
In another case, the Begowala police could not recover trader Muhammad Asghar, who had recently returned from Dubai and some proclaimed offenders (POs) had kidnapped him for ransom from his house in Husainpur, Sambrial tehsil on Thursday.
The kidnappers had demanded Rs2 million ransom from the family for his release. A huge police contingent from Sialkot, Gujrat and Gujranwala districts had launched an operation in bela area along the bank of Chenab for the recovery of the trader but did not make any progress.
The trader’s family has urged the Punjab chief minister and IGP to look into the matter and ensure early arrest of the accused.
When contacted, the respective police officials said the accused would be arrested soon.
ROBBERY: Three robbers took away gold ornaments, foreign and Pakistani currency, electronics and other valuables worth Rs3 million from the house of a hosiery trader, Allah Ditta, in Hadi Town, Uggoki, on Friday night. The robbers stormed into the house, held the family members, including women and children, at gunpoint and fled away with the booty.
