TOBA TEK SINGH: Three robbers looted a house in Jhang late on Saturday in Siddiq Park locality, with two of them also raping a woman in the house. According to an FIR by the Satellite Town police, three bandits wearing track suits forced their entry into the house of a labourer and forced him to open a locked room. When his wife was opening the lock, they overpowered her and took her into the same room where two of them gang-raped her. They took away Rs25,000, a maund of wheat flour, seven poultry birds, three unstitched ladies suits, and a stainless steel jug.

Jhang District Police Officer Malik Tariq Mahboob visited the house and assured the family that the suspects would be traced at the earliest. He told reporters that a team of expert policemen had been formed, headed by Sadar circle DSP Aslam Dogar, and the investigation had been started by obtaining footage from CCTV cameras of shops and houses in different areas of the adjacent localities. He said that he himself would monitor the probe.

FESCO: Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) chairman Malik Tahseen Awan told reporters on Sunday that Fesco has reduced the size of paper on which electricity bills are issued to consumers. He said the step towards smart billing would save Rs170 million per year, which was being spent on the purchase of the previous size of paper and printing bills on it. He said that previously Rs214 million were spent on purchasing extra-size billing paper and printing bills on it, which had now been reduced to only Rs44 million per year. He said small bill distribution had been started for 5.2 million consumers, while paper billing would soon be replaced with online billing in all the districts of the region.

FIA: A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team raided Multan Airport on Sunday and offloaded nine passengers from flight number PA 870, allegedly going to Saudi Arabia for begging purposes under the guise of Umrah.

An FIA spokesperson stated that a female agent was taking six women and two men with her. He said the arrested suspects did not have any hotel bookings.

They were handed over to the anti-human trafficking circle for further investigation and legal action. Meanwhile, Faisalabad Zone FIA arrested two people involved in Hawala hundi and illegal currency exchange business from Sillanwali.

A press release said foreign currency worth millions of rupees was recovered from the business places of Muhammad Muqaddas and Rehmatullah. Three mobile phones, two bank cheque books, and two laptops were also taken into custody for the interrogation of transactions of money from abroad. Raids were being conducted to arrest two of their other accomplices who managed to escape during the raid.

ACCIDENT: An older woman was burnt alive in Gojra in Jalal Town locality after a fire broke out in a room of her house on Saturday night.

Reports said Kaneezan Bibi who was also mentally challenged, was residing alone in her house. She set fire to wooden pieces to make her room warm before going to sleep, but her clothes and bed also caught fire, resulting in her burning to death.

Neighbours smelled the fire in the morning on Sunday and found her dead.

Meanwhile, a young farmer was buried alive in Khanewal in Mianchannu tehsel Chak 88/15-L under an earth heap on Sunday.

According to the police, Hussain Bharwana was digging out sand when suddenly a heavy heap of earth collapsed on him, causing him to suffocate to death. Reports said the deceased was to be married on Dec 12.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2023