To address the increasing cases of disruption of public order by frequent protest rallies blocking the busy roads, the district administration has decided to reintroduce the implementations of Section No 3 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Act that carries a 30-day detention for violators. The government sources said a policy had already been set up to ensure smooth flow of traffic on the busy highways of the city.
They added that only the main highways: Jarranwala Road, Samundary Road, Sargodha Road, Jail Road, Canal Road and Jhang Road used as entry and exit points to and from Faisalabad have been selected for the implementation of the MPO. The decision is being taken by District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nasim Sadiq who has been approached by a number of business community organisations that claim themselves as the victims of these protests. The city government is also considering reserving a ‘free for all’ venue for all sorts of protestors to discharge their anger against the government without halting the city life. Dhobi Ghat Ground at Jhang Road next to Government College University Faisalabad is being proposed as the possible venue for all protests.
BODIES EXHUMED FROM GRAVEYARD: Citizens of Madina Town, Mansoorabad and surrounding areas have protested against the city government’s road expansion plan that entails the exhumation of dead bodies along the boundary wall of W Block Graveyard in Madina Town to widen the link road leading to Pipan Wala Pull at Canal Road. When the police reached there for demarcation of the graveyard, the residents gathered, condemned the decision and termed it forbidden in Islam.
They said they would exhume their loved ones themselves to shift them to other side of the graveyard while some of the bodies were re wrapped in new coffins before burying them into new graves.
District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nasim Sadiq defended his decision in the broader public interest and said that the administration had obtained a decree (Fatwa) from religious scholars before the decision. By shifting these bodies, the road would be widened up to 35 feet, he further said, adding that only 25-30 graves had been affected in the scheme.
TWO WOMEN RAPED: Batala Colony and Dijkot police have registered two separate rape cases against three accused. In the first incident, the complainant Rubi Bibi, a resident of Chak No 224 RB, told Batala Colony police that her teenage daughter was enticed by the accused Ali to his house where she was raped by him. In the second incident, the victim, a resident of Chak No 249 RB, told Dijkot police that she was lured by Ali Abbass and Zahid Bukhari who gang-raped her against her will.
MAN ARRESTED FOR DEMANDING RANSOM: Jarranwala police arrested a man who demanded Rs one million ransom from a textile mill owner in Khurarrianwala. MSC Textile Mills Khurarrianwala admin officer told the police that an anonymous caller had been demanding Rs 1000,000 in terms of ransom and threatening of serious consequences in case of nonpayment. According to the instructions of Jarranwala Superintendent of Police (SP) Sadiq Ali Dogar, Khurarrianwala Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Zafar Iqbal tracked down the accused with the help of his mobile phone data. The accused was identified as Abdul Qayyum, a resident of Chak No 103 RB Phulahi, and was being interrogated under the Anti Terrorism Act and Tele Graph Act.
