FAISALABAD, May 25: PPP (Parliamentarians) Punjab Secretary-General Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan has criticized the government for failing to control lawlessness in the province.

Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, he said the incidence of dacoity and highway robbery had become a routine. He alleged that some of the policemen were patronizing gangsters.

Mr Khan, an MPA, said the recent strike by the Faisalabad yarn traders was a proof to the fact that the law-enforcement agencies had been deputed to launch campaigns against politicians and not outlaws.

Answering a question, he said there was no ban or restriction on the entry of Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan and she would return home soon with honour. All the wings of the PPP would be reorganized at the union council level for which special efforts were being made by the party leadership, he said.

17 ARRESTED: Nishatabad police arrested 17 boys from two cyber cafes and registered three cases under the Motion Pictures Ordinance here on Tuesday. A police team, headed by sub-inspector Nasarullah, raided the net cafes in Chak-119 and Chak-120 and rounded up 17 youngsters, including owners of the clubs, on the charge of screening porn movies on computers.

Meanwhile, a group of the area people and relatives of the boys termed the police action unjustified. They alleged that the police released over a dozen youths on receiving bribe.

DEMO: Hundreds of villagers of Mamukanjan reportedly staged a protest demonstration and blocked traffic against the discharge of chemically polluted water in the drain by industrial units.

The protesters were led by office-bearers of different NGOs. They staged a sit-in on a main road of the area and chanted slogans against the administration.

Meanwhile, councillors Muhammad Saeed and Muneer Ahmed said industrial effluents were also contaminating the underground water, causing Hepatitis, skin and other stomach diseases.

They claimed that almost 70 people had expired during the last one year after using the water. The villagers urged the chief minister to look into the matter.

FIRE: A bakery shop was reduced to ashes in Madina Town here on Monday night. Fire broke out at Bilal Bakers due to a short-circuit. Consequently, food articles, furniture and fixture worth Rs1.2 million were burnt to ashes. The fire-fighters rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire.