GUJRANWALA, Oct 25: A bomb hoax spread panic in a school here in People’s Colony on Saturday.

An unidentified caller informed the school administration that there was a bomb planted in the school, which could explode within a few minutes.

Students and teachers vacated the school building, and bomb disposal and Rescue 1122 staff was called in. However, the school was cleared after a thorough search.

Hoax calls have become too frequent in educational institutions and at other places and the law enforcers have failed to bring the miscreants to book.

RESCUED GIRLS: Three girls, who were abducted about 15 days ago from Qila Deedar Singh and later rescued from Quetta, were handed over to their parents on Saturday.

Gulnaz, 11, and Laiba, 9, daughters of Muhammad Siddiq of Jeo Chak village and Arshad Bhatti’s daughter Ishrat, 15, were abducted from the village the day after Eidul Fitr. Later, the abductors phoned their parents and demanded Rs600,000 for their release.

The parents informed police, which rescued the girls from a deserted house in Quetta. However, the kidnappers fled.

GAS SUPPLY: Maintenance work on a gas supply line at Qadirpur has been completed and gas supply restored to industries in Gujranwala and Lahore divisions, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) General Manager Mahmood Zia said after a meeting with a delegation from the Wazirabad Cutlery Association.

He said gas supply to industries was stopped for 18 days because of the maintenance work at Qadirpur.

GCCI: The Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) praised the government for giving a temporary relief to electricity consumers and demanded that tariff should be reduced to ease the situation.