TOBA TEK SINGH: More than 40 shops in a large godown of cut-piece cloth in Faisalabad’s Tata Cloth Market were destroyed in a massive fire early Wednesday morning.

The fire, caused by an electrical short circuit, was extinguished after hours of effort by a dozen Rescue 1122 fire tenders.

Losses incurred by shopkeepers are estimated to be in the millions of rupees.

FIA: The Faisalabad Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) composite circle claims to have dismantled an international human trafficking gang.

An FIA spokesperson said on Wednesday that Muhammad Ashfaq, gang member, was arrested in Khurrianwala.

The gang allegedly extorted money by promising to send people to European countries, initially sending them to Azerbaijan and Turkey on visit visas before smuggling them illegally to Europe.

Iranian currency was recovered from the suspect and raids are underway to arrest other accomplices.

BODY FOUND: The body of a transgender person was found at a deserted location near Chak 228-RB on the Makkuana Bypass Road in Faisalabad on Wednesday.

Identified as Anjili, 30, a resident of the same village’s outskirts, police suspect she was strangled to death.

The body was shifted to Faisalabad District Headquarters Hospital for an autopsy.

CPO Kamran Adil has directed the formation of a special police team to trace and arrest the culprits.

ACCIDENT: At least 15 passengers were injured when a bus en route from Khairpur Tamewali to Islamabad collided with a sugarcane-laden tractor-trolley and later crashed into roadside shops near the New General Bus Stand at Kamalia on Wednesday.

According to Rescue 1122, five critically injured passengers were shifted to Kamalia THQ Hospital.

They include Maryam Irfan, 11, from Vehari; Waseem Sabir, 52, from Rawalpindi; Karam Hussain, 38, from Hasilpur; Waqas Waheed, 26, from Islamabad, and Ahsan Naubahar from Chichawatni.

CHRISTMAS: A large gathering of the Christian community attended Christmas prayers at the Central Catholic Church on Railway Road in Faisalabad, led by Bishop Dr Inderyas Rehmat.

The bishop prayed for Pakistan’s solidarity and prosperity and cut a Christmas cake.

Other prominent priests leading prayers in various churches included Fr Zafar Iqbal, Fr Khalid Rashid Assi, and Fr Abid Tanwee

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2024