GUJRANWALA – A peasant was killed and seven others were injured critically over a minor dispute at village Macharawan in the vicinity of Wahndo Police Station. A police source said that following a children’s quarrel in the village, Irfan, Khalil, Arslan, Javed, Maqsood, Sajjad and Ramzan attacked the house of Muhammad Javed and axed him to death.
The attackers also critically injured Muhammad Riaz, Ilyas, Pervez, Nasir, Moazzam and two others. All the injured were rushed to hospital.
PROTEST IF SALES TAX NOT WITHDRAWN: Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sheikh Sarwat Ikram has warned the government that a massive protest movement will be started in case sales tax on the textile industry is not withdrawn. Addressing a hurriedly-called meeting of Pakistan Silk and Rayon Mills Association at GCCI auditorium, Sheikh Sarwat Ikram vowed to resist such taxes which, he argued, were harming the industrial sector.
He said that the association would chalk out a strategy after consulting power looms and sizing associations of Faisalabad and would not follow the presidential ordinances in this respect. The participants of the meeting were told that tens of thousands of labourers would lose their jobs owing to excessive taxation on the textile sector.
Sheikh Sarwat Ikram alleged myopic approach of the rulers had been creating unrest among the industrialists and spoiling the affairs of the industrial sector. The participants of the meeting asked the governments to reduce their non-development expenditures instead of shifting all such expenses to the industrial sector just to accommodate the IMF.
GCCI Vice President Muhammad Saeed Butt, Ikhlaq Ahmad Butt, Kh Zarar Kaleem, Haji Nazir Ahmad, Haji Muhammad Akram, Muhammad Izhar and others also addressed the meeting.
REPORT SOUGHT ON DILAPIDATED ROADS: Gujranwala Divisional Commissioner Saeed Iqbal Wahla has directed all the district heads, administrators and TMOs to submit a comprehensive report on dilapidated roads in their respective areas till 12th April so that funds can be allocated for the repair work.
The meeting was attended by Sialkot DCO Mujahid Sherdil, Gujrat DCO Nawazish Ali, Hafizabad DCO Muhammad Asif, Narowal DCO Ahmad Ali, Director Development Anwar Aziz and administrators of the TMAs. The participants of the meeting told that work on nine roads of Khiali Town, 10 of Qila Dedar Singh Town, 11 of Nandipur Town and 22 of Aroop Town would be started soon while work on 12 roads of Sialkot would commence next week.
They were further told that 14 on-going schemes were going to be completed within the set schedule. The commissioner ordered transparency in allotting work to the contractors and intended to facilitate the masses remaining within the available resources.
FACTORY’S GUARD FOUND DEAD: A security guard of a local factory in the industrial estate was found dead the other day. The police said that 50-year-old Muhammad Sharif was performing his duty in his factory. On Tuesday morning the factory’s workers found him dead and informed the police.
The medico-legal report revealed that someone had strangled Muhammad Sharif. A murder case has been registered against unknown killers on the report of the manager of the factory.
