FAISALABAD, July 23: The Punjab government will recruit 1,396 assistant sub-inspectors and over 5,000 constables in nine districts of the Punjab.

Dawn learnt on Tuesday that the police department had been facing a daunting task to fully implement the government’s decision of separating watch and ward and investigation wings due to shortage of staff. The ASIs will be recruited through the Punjab Public Service Commission while the posts of constables would be filled by the district police officers under prescribed rules.

According to the schedule announced by the PPSC Lahore, some 159 seats of ASIs had been reserved for Lahore, 129 for Sheikhupura, Kasur and Okara, 285 for Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad and Gujrat, 85 for Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Layyah and Rajanpur, 105 for Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalnagar, 152 for Sargodha, Bhakkar, Mianwali and Khushab, 158 for Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum and Attock, 156 for Multan, Vehari, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Lodhran and Khanewal and 167 for Faisalabad, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh.

A police source said the PPSC had so far received thousands of applications from masters and graduates, although, the minimum qualification had been announced FA or FSc.

The short-listed candidates would be called for a written test and the qualifying candidates would be interviewed by the PPSC.

FUJ ELECTIONS: The elections of Faisalabad Union of Journalists will be held on 25 July (Thursday), it was learnt on Tuesday.

The elections of the FUJ had reportedly in doldrums for the last 20 years. A union’s governing committee had during the last two months completed the task of memberships. Some 152 journalists of local and national dailies, photographers and representatives of news agencies were enrolled. At least 51 candidates of both the panels are in the race for all 27 seats of the FUJ body.

The interested candidates are Muhammad Yousaf and Riaz Muhammad Raza for president, Agha Ashab Khan and Riaz Malik for senior vice-president, Muhammad Sarfraz Naz and Saim Somi for vice-president, Ghulam Mustafa Baig and Sabir Sarwar for secretary-general, Sarfraz Ahmad Ghauri, Jameel Siraj, Ijaz Ahmad and Nadeem Shahid for joint secretary and Muhammad Mushtaq and M.S. Bilal for finance secretary.

At least 16 journalists are contesting for 10 seats of the FUJ executive committee.

The elections would be held at the local Press Club under the supervision of an election commission headed by Rasheed Ludhianvi.

SHOT DEAD: A shopkeeper was shot dead by two robbers on resistance at his shop near Mian Trust Hospital on Monday night.

Battery shop owner Safeer Ahmad Pasha was sitting at his shop when two robbers came there and tried to snatch cash. On resistance, one of the robbers opened fire on Pasha, injuring him grievously. He died on his way to a hospital.

Civil Lines police have registered a case and sent the body to the Allied Hospital for postmortem.

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