DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two children drowned while bathing in a pond in the Garah Baloch area of Tank district on Saturday, as three other children were rescued, according to a family member.

The deceased were identified as Murtaza Abbas, 11, and Shahir Abbas, 8. They were cousins.

A close relative of the children, Najaf Baloch, said the children had gone to bathe in a pond formed by floodwater near the Tank Bypass amid the intense heat.

According to him, the children accidentally moved into deeper water and drowned.

Residents retrieved the children from the water, but they could not be revived.

Three other children, who were also in the water, were rescued.

Meanwhile, 12 armed men, some dressed in police uniform and travelling in two vehicles fitted with blue emergency lights, allegedly entered two houses in Ghaibi village and looted gold jewellery, silver, cash, licensed weapons and several mobile phones, the police said.

Band Korai police station said Fazlur Rehman, a resident of the Ghaibi area, registered a complaint, saying that around 11 to 12 armed men, dressed in black clothes and police uniform, knocked at the main gate of his house.

“The men introduced themselves as police officials and claimed they had come to conduct a search operation for weapons.”

He said the suspects entered the house and split into groups, with some entering the house of his cousin, Ghulam Subhani.

The men allegedly took mobile phones from Rehman and his brothers, while mobile phones belonging to Subhani’s brothers were also taken.

The suspects allegedly took over 20 tolas of gold jewellery, 125 tolas of silver, Rs850,000 in cash and a licensed pistol with a magazine at Rehman’s house. From Subhani’s house, the suspects allegedly took four mashas of gold jewellery, Rs300,000 in cash and a gun.

The suspects then allegedly fled in the two vehicles. They reportedly opened fire while fleeing towards Chashma Road.

Police registered a case and launched an investigation into the incident.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2026