GUJRANWALA, Feb 15 The kite-flying association in Gujranwala has announced that it will not celebrate the 'Basant festival' in compliance with the orders of the Lahore High Court.

Reports said association office bearers, led by its president Muhammad Yaseen Khwaja, met DCO Shahid Niaz on Monday and assured him that they would not celebrate the event.

Lauding their decision, the DCO asked them to help the district administration and police in a crackdown on kite and string sellers. Meanwhile, DIG Zulfiqar Cheema appealed to citizens to keep their children away from Basant festival.

DEMO Gujranwala Development Authority employees staged a rally in protest against the killing of their colleague and demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

The employees observed a complete strike and gathered outside their office where they demonstrated and chanted slogans against the police.

They later brought out a rally led by labour leaders Naseeruddin, Tariq Mehmood and Amjad Bashir which started from the GDA Plaza and terminated at the press club. Rana Adil Maqsood was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists about 10 days back in the limits of the Baghbanpura police station.

ARRESTED The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed on Monday to have arrested a red-book accused in a raid at a locality in Kharian and recovered passports and other documents from his possession. Acting on a tip-off that accused was present in his house in Kharian, a team led by agency's Gujrat SHO Mian Sabir raided there and arrested accused Hussain Raza.

The accused confessed to have been in the illegal trade for 15 years and that he had sent more than 6,000 people to Greece illegally through Iran and Turkey.—Correspondent