BAHAWALPUR: The dysfunctional airports of Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and other places will be made operational for the air ambulance service of the Punjab Emergency Service Department.

According to District Emergency officer (DEO) Baqir Hussain, arrangements to launch the air ambulance service were being made under the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

He said wherever the airports were unavailable, airstrips of the armed forces could be used in the emergency cases and details were being finalised by the departments concerned in this regard.

It may be mentioned here that presently the airports at Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan are non-operational and the people from the area use Multan airport for flights. To make the Bahawalpur airport operational for air ambulance, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would be approached to make the arrangements for the purpose.

ARRESTED: Police claim to have arrested five suspects for abduction of a builder for ransom .

Addressing a media conference, District Police Officer Asad Sarfraz said that after the kidnapping of Ahmed Alam, the special investigation team managed to arrest five suspects identified as Adnan, Aslam Nadeem, Zohaib,Azhar and Bilal. A can used for Alam’s abduction was also recovered.

The DPO said a robbers’ gang was also unearthed and its five members, including ring leader Usman Shah, Amjad, Yousaf, Javed and Raees, were arrested. The police recovered Rs5m along with stolen motorcycles and other valuables from the suspects.

BODY FOUND: A body of an aged woman Nasim Akhtar (55) was found in a house in Fauji Basti.

According to police and emergency rescuers, the woman was living alone and she might have expired two to three days ago.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2024