TOBA TEK SINGH: Syedwala police in Nankana Sahib arrested former SHO inspector Shahbaz Ahmad and Investigation Officer Sub-Inspector Khizer Hayat on Friday for unlawfully arresting a couple who had contracted a court marriage.

According to the FIR registered under sections 155C and 156D of the Police Order of 2002, complainant SHO Muhammad Afzal stated that Muhammad Shahbaz Boota and Eiman Waheed had contracted a love marriage without the consent of the bride’s parents.

The police officials in question allegedly misused their authority by illegally detaining the couple, torturing them to force a divorce and falsely implicating Boota in a kidnapping case under Section 496-A of the PPC.

A police spokesperson said an inquiry confirmed that the officers had made an unlawful arrest, following which they were arrested, suspended and subjected to further departmental action.

KILLED: An eight-year-old boy was shot dead while his father was injured in a gun attack over a monetary dispute in Faisalabad’s Guru Nanak Pura locality on Friday.

According to a Gulberg police FIR registered under Sections 302, 324, 109, and 34 of the PPC, complainant Muteeul Haq alleged that accused Ihsanul Haq Shani, Mueez Bajwa and Anwar Dhobi, along with two unidentified accomplices, stormed his house and opened indiscriminate fire over a monetary dispute. Haq and his son Nafeesul Haq were injured.

The child later succumbed to his injuries at Allied Hospital.

Police said raids were underway to arrest the suspects.

Also, four-year-old Muhammad Ali was killed after being hit by a car driven by Ikhlaq Ahmad near the main gate of the district courts complex in Faisalabad. The boy was walking with his father Muhammad Hassan at the time of the accident. Kotwali police shifted the body to Allied Hospital for an autopsy.

CASE: The senior medical officer of a rural health centre in Kamalia’s Chak 740 GB and two village lumberdars were booked on Friday for illegally cutting and selling trees worth over Rs 5 million from RHC land.

According to the FIR registered by Bhussi police in Kamalia under sections 380 and 406 of the PPC, Punjab Health Facilities Management Company’s district manager Asif Rashid accused Dr Muhammad Irshad and lumberdars Muhammad Riaz and Muhammad Riaz of unlawfully cutting and selling the timber without authorisation.

Police said they had recovered the trees from the buyer’s custody and sent him behind bars.

FAKE IB OFFICER: Madina Town police arrested a man in Faisalabad on Friday for fraudulently posing as an officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Police said several people complained that suspect Faisal Sajjad falsely introduced himself as an IB officer. Upon his arrest, he failed to produce any proof of his employment.

Later, verification from the IB confirmed that he was not affiliated with the agency, after which he was sent behind bars.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2025