Situation calm on Sialkot border

Published January 18, 2002

SIALKOT, Jan 17: It remained calm on the working boundary on Thursday.

Official sources told Dawn on Thursday that there was no firing incident reported from any sector.

It was reported that life was rapidly returning to normalcy. However, people living in border area villages were still awaiting a green signal to go back to their homes.

Meanwhile, in a special session held on Thursday, the district council reviewed the latest situation of the border area villages.

SECURITY HEIGHTENED: Security in and around courts has been tightened to avert any further untoward incident.

This was stated by the Sialkot SSP here on Thursday. He said besides the routine police guard, special police personnel have been deployed there. Entry on to court premises would be allowed on presenting national identity cards.

The SSP visited the DHQ Hospital and inquired after the health of the policemen who sustained injuries in a shootout on Jan 15. He announced cash prizes of Rs15,000 each for constables Sabir Husain and Azhar Rashid and Rs5,000 for Muhammad Salim.

EXEMPTED: The local district government has exempted all the farmers, residing in the Sialkot working boundary’s villages, from all the agriculture loans, abiyana and taxes till the return of normality.

This was told by the District Coordination Officer (DCO), Capt Zahid Saeed (retired), in a special session of the local district council here on Thursday.

He said there was a shortage of fodder for the cattle in the border villages as the farmers could not sow the seasonal crops under the threat of Indian shelling.

Earlier, the government formulated 25 departmental committees including sports and culture, community development and welfare, social welfare, public safety, education, legal aid, fisheries and livestock, works, health, agriculture, justice finance, arbitrary, code of laws, auction purchase and market committees of Pasrur, Daska and Sialkot, and monitoring teams in Sialkot, Daska and Pasrur.

Criticizing the government, the opposition leaders said these sub-committees were constituted without taking them into confidence.

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