NAROWAL: Two boys drowned while taking bath in the canal in Sialkot on Tuesday.

Two friends, 15-year-old Rahat Ali and 18-year-old Fahad Ali, residents of Kumbharanwala village in the suburbs of Sialkot, were bathing in the Upper Chenab Canal. In the meantime, Rahat went into deep water and started drowning. While trying to save his friend from drowning, Fahad also went into the deep water.

The rescuers and local people searched for their bodies but could not find them. Divers of Rescue 1122 Sialkot have started a search operation to find the boys.

According to Muhammad Waseem, spokesperson for Rescue 1122, the search operation would continue until they traced the boys.

Meanwhile, a young man was electrocuted by a wire hanging from an electric pole in Daska.

Muhammad Asim, 22, a resident of Circular Road, was passing through the Canal Garden Road when he was electrocuted by a wire hanging from an electric pole. The young man was suffering from the current.

According to eyewitnesses, one Abrar Ahmed made several phone calls to the electricity supply company to cut power supply but no one answered the phone. The young man was electrocuted and died on the spot.

GANG BUSTED: Sialkot police arrested an inter-district criminal gang, along with its leader, involved in 28 serious criminal incidents.

The police said the Pathan gang was wanted by the police in numerous cases related to theft and robbery.

The police utilising human intelligence sources, geo-fencing, CCTV footage and other advanced technologies, arrested ringleader Atif Pathan and other members, including Shafiullah Pathan, Malik Adil, Talib Hussain, Nadeem Masih, Waseem Abbas and Sahil Faisal.

During the initial investigation, the accused confessed to their involvement in 28 thefts, robberies, and other serious criminal incidents.

The police have also recovered a significant amount of stolen property, including motorcycles, cars, watches, domestic and foreign currency, and modern automatic machines, with an estimated worth of over Rs5.5 million.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2023