SAHIWAL, May 4: An inquiry into the alleged embezzlement has been ordered in lease proceeds of an agriculture land allocated for the construction of district jails at Okara and Pakpattan.

The Board of Revenue (BOR) had allotted 52 acres of land each for jails at Okara and Pakpattan. The Central Jail authorities had taken the possession of the land, but the construction work could not be started for want of funds.

Later, jail authorities leased out this land for agriculture purposes to two private contractors against a bid of millions of rupees. The lease proceeds were reportedly misappropriated by the then superintendent of the Central Jail and his colleagues.

DCOs of Okara and Pakpattan districts reported the matter to the Punjab Governor who ordered a probe and sought further details from the Interior Ministry.

FACTORY GUTTED: A furniture factory in the Small Industrial Estate was gutted here on Friday.

The Safdar Rashid Furniture factory caught fire when it was closed on account of a weekly holiday on Friday. The only vehicle of fire brigade which reached there one-and-a-half-hour late could not control the blaze.

LOADSHEDDING: The people of Sahiwal have been braving the unscheduled loadshedding of five hours a day in odd hours for the last three days.