GUJRANWALA, Jan 20: Two persons were shot dead and as many sustained serious injuries in two separate incidents in and around the city here on Thursday.

Shafiq was present in his house in Rajkot locality when accused Dilawar, Butt and their accomplices stepped in and opened indiscriminate fire on inmates. As a result, Shafiq died on the spot while his brother Ameen and uncle Rafique received injuries. They were shifted to Mayo Hospital Lahore in serious condition.

Nasrullah of Qila Didar Singh was on his way home from fields. He was intercepted by accused Yousaf and opened fire on him after a squabble. He died on the spot while the accused managed to escape.

New tax: A proposal to levy a new tax on land and mobile phone holders was being considered by the government to expand the tax net. This was stated by Central Board of Revenue member (direct taxes) Suleman Nabi at the Gujranwala Tax Bar Association here on Tuesday.

He said the number of tax payers in Pakistan was insufficient for a developing country.

Mr Nabi said there was no proposal under consideration by the government to recover the tax from people by force. Instead it was pursuing industrialists and traders to pay the tax under law.

He said 2.2 millions tax payers have been registered. The number could be increased to five million under various categories, he added.

He acknowledged that about one million income tax returns were deposited by the business community last fiscal year.

He said refund cases were being settled by the income tax department while Rs1.5 billion have so far been refunded.

He assured the business community of better facilities on completion of an office in regional headquarter soon.

Earlier, association president Nisar A. Sheikh apprised Mr Nabi of the problem being faced by the tax bar.