LAHORE: A man allegedly committed suicide by burning himself to death inside his car in Manawan on Sunday.

Police claimed that Naeem, 45, of Shahdara was being treated for depression for 15 years. He had parked his car on a roadside and set it on fire while sitting inside. A passerby succeeded in pulling him out of the vehicle, but he jumped into it again, they added.

Rescue teams reached the spot and extinguished the fire and recovered the body. Police later collected forensic evidence from the crime scene and recorded statements of the witnesses.

The Manawan station house officer claimed that the man was suffering from a mental illness and committed suicide by burning himself to death.

In another incident, a fire was reported in a house in Punjab Society Phase 2 on PIA Road wherein valuables worth millions were gutted.

Another fire was erupted in a warehouse near Jamia Masjid Khizra Shah Din Scheme near Landa Bazaar Ichhra. The people nearby tried to control the blaze and also called rescue teams. The teams reached the spot and managed to extinguish the fire.

POs held: Police claimed on Sunday to have arrested 149 proclaimed offenders in a crackdown to protect the public lives and property in Okara.

The action was taken on the directives of IGP Shoaib Dastagir to maintain law and order.

Okara District Police Officer Omar Saeed Malik said teams were constituted to launch crackdown on proclaimed offenders, illegal weapons and narcotics to maintain law and order and to improve public service delivery. He said the teams had arrested 149 proclaimed offenders in the last three weeks; among them, 15 were of A-category, 134 of B category and 81 judicial absconders.

He said 85 cases were registered against illegal weapons holders and two rifles, 14 guns, three revolvers, 64 pistols, two Kalashnikovs and 310 bullets were recovered from them.

Mr Malik said 131 cases were registered against drugs peddlers who were also arrested and 44.607kg charas and 1,634 bottles of liquor were seized. He said 13 cases were registered under amplifier act of the National Action Plan while seven cases were registered for violating temporary residence ordinance.

PHP: Punjab Highway Patrol Additional IG Zafar Iqbal Awan on Sunday visited three regions of south Punjab for improvement in public service delivery and to protect the lives of the people on the highways.

He also reviewed the performance of field officials to take action against the criminal elements and issued directions for the welfare of the personnel.

Mr Awan had visited the PHP posts including Basti Malok in Multan, Ghazi Ghat in DG Khan and Pul Daga in Bahawalpur and inspected the performance of the deployed staff. He said it was the mission of the force to implement their slogan “Safe Highways” and urged the officers and officials to make the PHP more public friendly.

He also distributed Christmas gifts among the employees and certificates and cash prizes to those who performed brilliantly.

Additional IG PHP also laid floral wreaths on the memorial of martyrs and also offered prayers.

Multan Range SP Zahida Parveen, DG Khan Range SP Malik Tahir Mustafa and Bahawalpur Range SP Muhammad Sharif were also present.

Mr Awan under the Clean and Green Pakistan campaign also planted trees at patrolling posts.

MOTORWAY: The Motorway Police Training College’s Mobile Education Unit (MEU) in collaboration with a motorcycle manufacturing company organised a road safety awareness campaign by highlighting the importance of back view mirrors and helmets.

In-charge MEU Muhammad Saleem, company’s Regional Head Muhammad Usman and officers of the Motorway Police were present.

The campaign was launched on the direction of Commandant Training College DIG Mehboob Aslam who said thousands of people lost their lives on the road every year in crashes and motorcyclists were major contributors to them.

He said head injury was a major cause of death and it could be avoided by using standard safety helmets and following traffic rules by adopting road safety measures.

At the start of the campaign back view mirrors were installed at motorcycles and safety helmets distributed free of cost among road users. The motorcyclists were briefed on other safety tips as well.

The officials said safety helmet was not only mandatory for bike rider but also for pillion riders.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2019