Faisalabad | Pakistan

FAISALABAD - At least 20 people were killed and several others injured after a boiler exploded at a chem-ical factory in Faisalabad on early Friday.

At least 19 people were killed and several others injured on Friday as a result of a gas explosion at a factory near Faisalabad’s Malikpur area, with the owner arrested later in the day as well. An initial statement by Rescue 1122 said the incident took place early in the morning after the boiler of the factory exploded, causing the collapse of the building and nearby structures. However, the rescue service later attributed the explosion to a gas leak, which was also confirmed in the statement issued by Faisalabad Commissioner Raja Jahangir Anwar’s office. The first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered on the state’s behalf by the police and mentioned 20 dead, with 19 named victims, and seven injured. City police spokesperson Muhammad Tariq confirmed to Dawn that the Mansoorabad police had arrested the factory owner. The statement by the commissioner’s office said no boiler was present in the factory, adding that four factories were operating in the Malikpur area. “A fire erupted in one of ...

A Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Mohammad Hamid Raza to jail on Friday, directing that he serve his 10-year jail term in a case pertaining to violent protests in the country on May 9, 2023. Hamid was convicted in the case along with several PTI leaders on July 31. According to his brother, he was detained by Islamabad police earlier today while he was on his way to Faisalabad to court arrest. He was later presented before the court, which issued an order, noting that Hamid had been convicted in the case registered at Civil Lines police station in Faisalabad by then-ATC Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh. He was produced before the court today by Inspector Mujahid Iqbal of Civil Lines police station, it added. According to the order, a copy of which is available with Dawn, Hamid was sentenced in the case on multiple counts, with the maximum term being 10 years. It said that the Faisalabad Central Jail superintendent was required and authorised to receive the convic...

Air pollution across Punjab has reached alarming levels, with Faisalabad emerging as the most polluted city in the province on Friday.

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday announced a ban on the post­ing and transfer of govern­ment officers in Faisalabad and Sahiwal districts, aiming to ensure free, fair, and trans­parent by-elections in the re­spective constituencies.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz launched the province’s first electric bus service in Faisalabad on Sunday, where she also took aim at political opponents during her address.

Floodwaters in River Ravi at Head Sadhnai near Abdul Hakeem have struck a railway bridge, with water flowing over the tracks, prompting authorities to suspend train operations on the Khanewal–Faisalabad section as a precautionary measure.

A Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday sentenced key PTI leaders Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz and Zartaj Gul, along with 56 others, to 10 years in jail and acquitted 34 in the case of an attack on former interior minister Rana Sanaullah’s house during the May 9, 2023 riots. On May 9, 2023, military installations and state-owned buildings were vandalised as PTI supporters protested the arrest of ex-premier Imran Khan, who was released later but has been imprisoned in various cases since August 2023. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including the party’s top leadership, were arrested. Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh presided over today’s hearing of the case registered at the Samanabad police on May 9, 2023. PTI legal team head Malik Khalid Shafiq confirmed the convictions to Dawn.com. He said that out of the total 109 accused, 59 were handed 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and 16 were given three years’ jail time. Ayub, Faraz and Gul, as well as Muhammad Ahmad Chattha, were recently disqualified fro...

A woman was left injured on Monday after her husband allegedly threw acid on her during a domestic dispute in Samundri tehsil of Punjab’s Faisalabad district, according to the police. An incident report from the City Samundri Police station house officer said a call was received at 7:22am that a man had thrown acid on the caller’s daughter in Housing Colony No. 1, adding that she was in critical condition and being taken to the hospital. The SHO added that he and other police personnel reached the Samundri Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, where the victim’s father told them that his daughter was married to the suspect about a year ago but was still living with her parents. The father told the police that the couple had an argument earlier today over household expenditure, due to which the husband got angry and threw acid on her, wounding her face, left shoulder and hands. The report added that doctors administered first aid and referred her to the Allied Burn & Reconstructive Surgery Centre. The SHO said that le...

• Two FIRs registered; 47 suspects named, 300 remain unidentified • Minarets of worship places torn down, one set ablaze; nearby homes also attacked • HRCP calls for strict action on hate speech LAHORE: Dijikot police have registered two cases against 300 people on terrorism charges for setting two worship places of the Ahmadi community on fire in Faisalabad, on the eve of Independence Day. As many as 47 men were nominated, while 300 others remain unidentified in both cases. The cases were registered under Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and sections 295, 425, 446, 380, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). According to the FIRs, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) ticket-holder Hafiz Rafaqat led the mob, which was armed with rods and bricks. The attackers gathered outside one of the larger Ahmadi worship places and pelted it with bricks. Members of the community who tried to resist were severely beaten, leaving several injured. The mob, under the cover of Independence Day processions, delivered h...

TOBA TEK SINGH: An alleged serial rapist and blackmailer of children, who was arrested on Monday, was killed in an “encounter” with Faisalabad’s Lyallpur Division Crime Control Department team on Tuesday. According to police, suspect Mohsin Yasin, a refrigerator mechanic, residing in Kot Khan Muhammad locality, would rape minor boys and girls, record their pornographic videos and blackmail them. He was arrested on Monday. The police claimed that the suspect escaped from their custody. The CCD teams chased the suspect, who entered a house located on Satiana Road, from where he and his accomplices opened fire on the policemen. A crossfire took place between the criminals and the CCD teams, following which Mohsin was found lying injured in the house, allegedly in the firing by his accomplices, who fled. The police said the suspect was shifted to the Allied Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Meanwhile, as per the police, a suspected cattle thief was allegedly killed in an encounter with a CCD tea...

TOBA TEK SINGH: Faisalabad’s Lyallpur division Crime Control Department (CCD) police claimed to have arrested a paedophile serial rapist on Monday, who allegedly raped several minor boys and girls, recorded their videos and blackmailed them. According to CCD sources, the suspect ‘M’, a refrigerator mechanic residing in Kot Khan Muhammad locality on Satiana Road, had allegedly been raping minor boys and girls at gunpoint. The sources say the suspect would also record videos while raping children through secret cameras and later blackmail the victims. More than two dozen pornographic videos of eight to 12-year-old children were recovered from his mobile phones, besides other objectionable and obscene videos. The sources say that around a year ago, the suspect was caught red-handed raping a child, after which he fled to Multan. However, he returned to Faisalabad after six months and again raped an eight-year-old girl and made her pornographic videos. According to sources, the suspect had also allegedly electrocu...

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad on Thursday sentenced PTI leaders, including Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, Hamid Raza, and Zartaj Gul Wazir, to 10 years of imprisonment for their involvement in the May 9 riots. On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested. Out of 185 PTI workers accused, 108 have been sentenced by the court today. PTI’s Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), Junaid Afzal Sahi, was sentenced to three years in prison. Meanwhile, MPA Khayal Ahmad Kastro, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Zain Qureshi, and former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry have been acquitted in the cases. Reacting to the development, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the party will challenge the decision in the high...

A couple from Faisalabad was killed in a suspected “honour” killing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Maulana Kaly Fatma area of Mardan district on Saturday, police officials said. According to the first information report (FIR) filed by the slain man’s brother, Mazhar Iqbal, 51-year-old Zafar Iqbal had returned from Faisalabad to Mardan after many years. Zafar was accompanied by his wife, Farzana alias Gul Bibi, aged 40. Mazhar stated that the couple was at his house when the suspects forcibly entered and opened indiscriminate fire on his brother and sister-in-law, killing them on the spot. He added that he, along with his wife and children, narrowly escaped the attack. He nominated suspects Sarbuland, Munir Khan, Asad Shah, and Imran — all residents of Jehangira — along with Wajid and Muhammad Hussain from Babenai. The complainant urged the police to register a case against them for trespassing, attacking his family, causing bodily damage, and murdering his brother and sister-in-law, the FIR said. Muhammad Faheem, sp...

The Islamabad Police said on Tuesday they had arrested the main suspect in the murder case of 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf, a day after she was shot dead in her house. A first information report (FIR) had been filed yesterday evening at the Sumbal police station against an unidentified man on the complaint of Sana’s mother, Farzana Yousaf, invoking Section 302 (intentional murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The teenager was well-known for her social media activities, with nearly 800,000 followers on her TikTok account and almost 500,000 on her Instagram account. Addressing a press conference, Islamabad Inspector General (IG) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said the culprit was a 22-year-old man arrested from Faisalabad and termed it a case of “repeated rejections”. “A beast, cold-blooded murderer is now in the law’s grip,” IG Rizvi announced, adding that the man had tried to contact Sana repeatedly and was being “rejected by her again and again”. View this post on Instagram The police chief sai...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced to introduce a modern Metro bus service in Faisalabad city.

LAHORE - Several passengers were injured in a major train accident that occurred in the wee hours of Wednesday when the Shalimar Express, traveling from Karachi to Lahore, derailed near Faisalabad after colliding with a trailer at a railway crossing in the Darul Ehsan area.

At least 12 bogies and the engine of the Shalimar Express, en route to Lahore from Karachi, derailed in the early hours of Wednesday after the train collided with a trailer near Faisalabad.

TOBA TEK SINGH:A recklessly driven car struck a motorcycle on Canal Road in Faisalabad on Friday night, killing all three members of a family riding the motorcycle. Waris Ali (40) of Dhudhi Wala was riding the bike with his wife Sonia Bibi and their five-year-old son Subhan Ali as pillion riders when the collision occurred near the FCCI Secretariat bridge. The high-speed car collided with the bike head-on. Waris died on the spot, while his wife succumbed to her injuries at Allied Hospital. Their child is feared to have fallen into the canal, as only his shoes were found on the roadside. Rescue 1122 divers have been searching the canal since the night of the accident. Relatives blocked Canal Road for several hours, demanding the arrest of the underage driver, who is the son of a textile mill owner. Madina Town SP later assured protesters that the driver would be arrested soon, after which the protest was called off. In another accident occurred near Chak 396-GB, Rorranwali, in Tandlianwala tehsil, a motorcycle...