FAISALABAD – The citizens of Faisalabad celebrated Basant with all pomp and show violating the Punjab government’s ban on kite-flying as the sky was clouded with the rainbow of colours emanating from the thousands of kites that ruled the city’s air-space until sunset.
A heavy contingence of police was deployed at different points in the city to pose an effective deterrence to the violators but the strategy did not work much as the city sounded with the thunders of frequent firings in the air resulting at least one woman wounded by a stray bullet and a number of road accidents were also reported in which the youngsters bumped into vehicles while chasing the stray-kites.
The district administration launched vigorous operation against the illegal act of kite flying under the directions of Punjab government and as many as 21 cases were registered with different police stations regarding the sale, manufacturing and storage of kites, dangerous thread and other relevant material.
The teams of city district officers and police officials had conducted raids and recovered kite flying material worth millions of rupees, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Naseem Sadiq said adding that six cases had been registered with Ghulam Muhammad Abad Police Station against the accused Maqsood, Shehzad, Waseem, Riaz, Siddique and Abdullah.
He further said that three more cases had been registered at Mansoorabad Police Station against the accused Muhammad Tahir, Israr and Iftikhar while two cases each had been registered with Sargodha Road, Gulberg, Jhang Bazar and Razabad police stations against the accused Shahid, Bhola, Muhammad Idrees, Abdul Manan, Muhammad Raiz, Amir Masih, Muhammad Din and Abdul Wahid.
He added that one case each had been registered with Civil Lines, Millat Town, Jaranwala City and Factory Area police stations against the accused Khizar Hayat, Shahbaz, Habibullah and Akmal. The DCO warned that the operation against the illegal kite flying would continue and the violators would be taken to task.
He asked the parents to keep their children away from kite flying otherwise no one would be spared to save the citizens from the dangerous and sharp thread used in kite flying. On the other hand, Pakistan Sunny Tehreek took out a rally against Basant that was led by Sunny Tehreek City President Muhammad Asif Raza. The participants dubbed the Bsanat as a Hindu festival and set a pile of kites and threads on fire to express their anger.
Five million Pakistanis suffer from Hepatitis-B: It is estimated that 170 million people are suffering from Hepatitis-C and liver diseases have affected 350 million people around the world whereas around 1.29 million Americans and 5 million Pakistanis are victims of Hepatitis-B.
These figures were presented by the scientists and herbal medicine experts at a one-day seminar titled “Current Health Challenges and their Treatment by Natural Medicines” organised by the Institute of Horticultural Sciences in collaboration with Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations at Landscape and Floricultural Studio at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). Speaking on the occasion Agriculture Faculty Dean Dr Muhammad Ashfaq said that modern science had introduced new innovations for human beings in order to provide strong health care.
Underscoring the importance of modern technology and research, he said that gene mapping of human body had opened new vistas for medical practitioners as well as researchers. He disclosed that scientists had identified the circle of invisible light having powerful wave lengths around living human body. He underlined the need for preserving natural resources in order to provide natural diet and medicinal supplements to the common man.
Islamabad National Council for Tib President Hakim Muhammad Munawar Sheikh said that 33 Tibbia colleges and two universities were rendering services for conducting research on indigenous herbs for medicines and human health. Hakim Muhammad Ahmad Salemi presented a research paper on chronic diseases and their cure through herbs while Professor Hakim Mansoor Aziz and Dr Aman Ullah Malik also spoke on the occasion.
Third robbery in 3 weeks, bank robbed of Rs 1,600,000: A group of four armed dacoits raided a busy area in Faisalabad and escaped after looting Rs 1,600,000 from the branch of a private bank at Najaf Colony in the jurisdiction of Peoples Colony Police Station. Reportedly, the dacoits overpowered the gunman after entering the bank’s building, took cash from the counter at gunpoint and escaped.
After getting information about the incident, district police alerted all the exit and entry points of the city to catch the robbers but in vain. This is the third bank robbery in Faisalabad in last three weeks as earlier a bank in Satyana was looted by the robbers who took away Rs 5,700,000 after killing the gunman. Another bank at Chak Jhumra Road was raided by the armed men who wounded the gunman and escaped carrying cash in a car.
The recent incident at Najaf Colony was the third in a series of robberies in last three weeks and it was supposed that all the robberies were undertaken by the same group because their modus operandi was all the same. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Usman Anwar issued strict orders to the banks to revamp the whole system to strengthen the security. He laid down a special strategy by assigning the responsibility of the banks’ security to the respective police officers of that particular area who would be held responsible for any incident of robbery there.
The officers were directed to visit the banks and take action against the bank managers who failed to implement the security parameters such as burglary alarm system, sniper point, close circuit TV system and a round the clock security watch in their branch. The heads of the branches were warned that if a CCTV system was not installed in their branch, they would be held responsible for the breach of security.
They were also warned that in case of lack of security parameters, the police would have the authority to close the branch for all sorts of business until they met the required criteria. The bank officials were also advised to scrutinise the performance of their guards through a close monitoring of their activities while the police authorities directed the cashiers to keep minimum amount of cash at counters and always keep the strong rooms locked.
Moreover, the bank employees were advised to lie down on the floor at the sounding of the alarm in case of any robbery operation and observe the registration number and colour of the vehicle used by the robbers.
Faisalabad goes Basanti despite ban
