SIALKOT: People began coming back to their villages along the Sialkot Working Boundary on Wednesday after no shell was fired from the Indian side in the last three days, Dawn has learnt.

Hundreds of people had fled their homes when Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) fired mortar shells and bullets for over a month. The guns fell silent after the visit of UN peacekeeping observers to these villages last week.

The shelling hit several houses in villages Bajrah Garhi, Charwah, Beeni, Anula, Joyiaan, Khadraal, Umeraanwali, Harpal and Meendarwal in Sialkot Working Boundary’s Charwah, Merajkey, Bajrah Garhi and Harpal sectors.

Villagers said the BSF was targeting the civilian population in unprovoked shelling creating harassment and panic among them. They demanded financial compensation for their damaged properties. Chenab Rangers officials said the tense situation was returning to normalcy.

DEAD: Daska-based Abdul Hameed Khokhar, 82, and his wife Sughra Bibi, 65, were found shot dead at their home in neighbourhood Sehikhan on Wednesday. Slain couple’s daughter-in-Law Farzada Nasir said she was asleep in her room, when she heard the gunshots. A few moments later, she found them shot dead.

Khokar’s Nasir Mehmood told police his father was upset and might have committed suicide after shooting Sughra. Daska City police started investigation.

Also, three gunmen shot dead Iftikhar near village Wadala Sindhuaan-Satrah over a monetary dispute on Wednesday and fled.

PTI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders have accused the government of treating their 143 detained workers inhumanly in the Sialkot District Jail.

PTI leaders Shamshad Ahmed Bajwa, Khwaja Arif Ahmed and Mian Shakeel Ahmed said this at a press conference on Wednesday.

Mr Bajwa said the government had detained 143 activists of both the PTI and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek in the jail to stop them from attending Azadi and Inqilab marches on August 14. He said these activists had been detained in death row cells.

He urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the situation.

Also, the district administration of Sialkot released 12 aged activists of both the PTI and the PAT from Sialkot District Jail on Wednesday after their two week-long detention. Police had detained them in a bid to halt them from participating in Azadi and Inqilab marches.

Those released included Malik Muhammad Iqbal, 61, Muhammad Rafiq 60, Muhammad Muneer, 62, Iqbal Husain, 70, Attaullah, 69, Muhammad Rafiq Mir, 65, Haji Muhammad Khalid, 62, Muhammad Rafiq, 68, and Allah Rakha, 63.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014