SARGODHA: A four-year-old girl died after falling into an open drain, while four people were injured in separate traffic accidents in the district.

According to sources, the girl fell into a dirty drain while playing outside her house in Sargodha. Although rescued, she could not survive.

In a traffic accident on Chak 46-SB, College Road, 40-year-old Azam of Chak 133-SB and 38-year-old Rubina Bibi of Chak 135-SB were seriously injured when a speeding dumper hit their car.

Similarly, 24-year-old Qaiser Abbas and his mother, 40-year-old Ansar Bibi, from Chak 69-SB, sustained serious injuries when a tractor-trolley struck their motorcycle on Chakira Road.

Rescue 1122 shifted the injured to the hospital.

Police are investigating all incidents.

GIFT: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz gifted two female students from Sargodha an electric scooter and a laptop, handed over to them by Commissioner Jahanzeb Awan.

Malaika and Saira, both BS students of the Government Associate College for Women, Chandni Chowk, had shared their financial challenges and commuting difficulties with the chief minister during her recent visit to Sargodha. Ms Nawaz announced the gifts to support their education.

On Friday, the commissioner presented keys of the scooters and laptops and congratulated the students. He also directed officials to provide scooter training, traffic licences, and helmets to the students.

DIES: Another young man succumbed to his injuries at DHQ Hospital on Friday after sustaining a bullet wound to the eye in an indiscriminate firing incident on Thursday, raising the death toll to five.

Two more injured remain in a critical condition. The deceased was identified as Muhammad Usman. He was a welder from Hyderabad town.

The incident occurred near Aziz Bhatti Town on the Sargodha-Khushab Road when armed men opened fire on opponents in a car after their court appearance in a longstanding enmity from Chak 54 NB. Fifteen others, including passers-by, were injured.

District Police Officer Dr Asad Ijaz Malhi said he is overseeing the operation to arrest the suspects. Special teams, led by SDPO Sadar Circle, DSP CIA, and SHOs of multiple police stations, have been formed.

DPO Malhi warned SHOs of strict accountability for public display of licenced arms and vowed to maintain law and order in the district.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2025