BAHAWALPUR: A young labourer got burnt alive on Thursday, allegedly after he accidentally fell into a burning brick kiln near Vahi Jogian village in Ahmedpur East tehsil.

According to Abdul Raheem of Ahmedpur East Rescue 1122, Aurengezeb (30) was working at the kiln when he accidentally fell into the fire.

On being called, a Rescue 1122 team reached the scene and rescued the worker, who suffered massive burns on his body and was finding it hard to breath.

The rescuers tried to revive him, but he expired.

His body was handed over to his family.

Ahmedpur East police are interrogating the kiln owner, Malik Akbar Khokhar.

THIEF ARRESTED: The Cantonment police claimed on Thursday to have arrested a suspect on the charge of stealing the protective iron grill installed around the statue of former hockey star Olympian Samiullah in Model Town.

The police claim that the suspect, Jahanzeb Koreaja of Abbasia Chowk, Ahmedpur East, confessed to have stolen the grill, which has been recovered from his possession.

Cantonment police had registered an FIR (No 1210/24) under section 379 of the PPC on the complaint of Yousaf Khan, an employee of an eye hospital about the theft of the safety grill around the statue, after a video clip of the incident was uploaded on social media.

The police claimed to have recovered the stolen iron grill with the help of CCTV cameras’ footage.The suspect, an addict, also admitted that he had stolen the grill to get money to buy drugs, say the police.

The grill had been installed by Cantonment Board in 2022 after the theft of the hockey and the ball from the statue. However, the police had recovered the stolen items after arresting the thief.

CASE SOLVED: Sheikh Faazil police in Vehari district claimed to have solved the blind murder of a farmer and arrested two of the alleged killers, while their two accomplices were on interim pre-arrest bail.

According to police, the suspects, Saadi Ahmed and Siraj, had allegedly killed a farmer, Tufail, for having relations with the former’s wife.

The suspects, along with theri two accomplices, had killed Tufail on the night of Nov 29, while he was irrigating his fields. The police said the murder case was solved with the help of geofencing and other latest technologies.

DRUG SEIZED: Police in Gaggoo and Burewala claimed to have recovered over six kilograms of ice (heroin) worth Rs7.5 million in two separate raids, arresting four suspects after impounding their vehicles.

According to Vehari police spokesman, in the first case, Gaggoo police on a tip-off set up a picket on a road near Rasoolpur and intercepted alleged drug dealers Arif and Naveed, recovering 4kg ‘ice’ worth Rs5m.

The suspects told the police that they were bringing the drug from Jhang to supply it in Vehari district.

In the second raid, two suspects -- Shafqat of Pirmahal and Khalil of Mian Channu -- were arrested in Burewala.

A consignment of over 2kg ‘ice’ worth Rs2.5m was recovered from them.

District Police Officer Mansoor Aman has announced commendation certificates with cash prizes for both raiding teams.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2024