As many as 70 of the 80 teams that were registered for the competition will participate in the rally. The remaining had failed to clear the qualifying round of the race held on Saturday.

The teams will drive through a 204 km long track with 15 check posts. The cars will be stopped for a short break after 104 km.

Shehzad Khan, one of the participants, said this was the second time he had qualified for the race. He said he would try to finish first this time. He finished the rally third during his earlier stint, he said.

Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan coordinator Shahid Mehmood said all arrangements for the event were in place. He said three battalions of Pakistan Rangers and 450 police men would be deployed along the track for security.

Teams of Rescue 1122 will remain on alert to lead with any unwanted incident during the race, he added.

The district government has imposed Section 144 in areas surrounding the track.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Amir, a Cholistan resident, said he was looking forward to the event.

He said besides being a source of entertainment, the rally provided many people a chance to make some extra money by setting up food and handicraft stalls. He said he had setup a makeshift shop where he was selling handicrafts.

Camps have been set up at Derawar Fort for spectators to spend the night ahead of the rally.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2012.

Maulana Abdul Bar, who was removed from the office in 2006, along with his supporters tried to enter Madrassa Qasimul Alum to reclaim the office after a Lahore High Court verdict calling for the person holding the office on (and before) October 13, 2006 to be restored. Bar told The Express Tribune that he had been the administrator for over 20 years. He alleged that he was removed on a directive from Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam cheif Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He said Rehman, who was then the opposition leader in the National Assembly, wanted to use the office for political purposes.

Several Bar supporters accompanying him on Wednesday were his students at the said seminary and had moved to Madrassa Rehmania following his ouster. They said the Majlis-i-Shoora (council) had framed corruption charges against Bar because they wanted to get rid of him. They said that a majority of the 20 members of Majlis-i-Shoora supported JUI-F and that they had sacked Bar because he was opposed to the seminary being partial towards a particular political party. The seminary is built over more than 15 kanals. Majlis-i-Shoora had sacked Bar after holding him guilty of misappropriation in the Rs200,000 per month rent received from the 45 shops built on  land owned by the seminary. Bar had moved court against his sacking in October 2006. Maulana Yasin and Maulana Akbar, currently holding the office, rejected the suggestion that they were supported any political party. They also said they were only performing their job and had nothing to do with the decisions of the Majlis-i-Shoora. They said that when Bar took the matter to court they had already been appointed as the administrators so the court verdict was in fact in their favour. Muhammad Jamal, who was appointed as the caretaker of the seminary by the court, said he had received an application from Bar seeking permission to rejoin as the administrator. He said he was consulting a lawyer to figure out the rightful claimant and would reach a decision in a couple of days. He refused further comment on the issue and said that he would only submit a statement in writing with the police or the court.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman had earlier visited the seminary in 2007. Talking to the media, he had rejected the allegation that Bar was sacked because of political reasons. He had said that the Majlis-i-Shoora had found him guilty of corruption and embezzlement of funds and decided to sack him for that reason.

Gulgasht station house officer Muhammad Nasrullah told the Tribune that the police would ensure that the court order was implemented. He said he had discussed the matter with both parties and would soon arrange another meeting  to go through the record of the case and decide who was to hold the administrator’s office in the light of the court’s order.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2011.

KHANEWAL: Regional Police Officer (RPO) Arif Ikram has been made officer on special duty (OSD) after Wednesday morning’s incident of 10 dacoits breaking into a police post in Khanewal and robbing the officials of their weapons, cell phones and cash.

All officials at the post, including the in charge Hameed Arshad, have been arrested after being suspended on charges of negligence in performance of duties. A departmental inquiry has been launched against these officials.

Under supervision of deputy inspector general of Punjab police (vigilance) Azeem Leghari, two teams have been formed to investigate the case. These are headed by Khanewal SP (Investigation) Naeemullah Babar and Kabirwala DSP Shahid Riaz Gujjar.

Talking to The Express Tribune on Wednesday night, the officials posted at the Jhandyali Bangla post in Saddar police precinct who were held hostage by the robbers said the bandits broke into the post at around 4am. They took officials to a back room and tied them to the charpoys. The officials said the robbers beat them up on resistence. These included – Constable Waseem, Wireless Operator Shakoor, Driver Farooq, assistant sub inspector Riaz and Clerk Ashiq.The robbers seized two rifles (an MP5 and a semi-automatic), 26 bullets, four mobile phones and Rs7,000.

In charge Hameed Arshad said that he and four constables were on patrol when the incident took place. He said he was contacted by Shakoor at around dawn and informed him about the robbery.

Khanewal district police officer Muhammad Waqar Abassi said initial examination suggested that the robbers had walked to the post, adding that they escaped by jumping over the back wall and needed to walk for around 3 km to reach Burewala Road. He said if such negligence was condoned the citizens would lose confidence in the police. He said that on instructions of IGP Tariq Saleem Doggar security at all police stations in the province had been tightened. He said the IGP had directed all police stations to ensure that there was adequate lighting at the station premises and around it. He said the officials posted at the post needed to be more vigilant. He said that they would be proceeded against in accordance with rules.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2010.

MULTAN: An 18-year-old newly-wed was snatched from her new home late Thursday night in the remote village of Thatta Ghulwan in Shujabad, by four armed, masked men.

The family were tied up and the intruders escaped with the girl, not bothering with valuables or other household items.

The following afternoon, her blood-soaked, maimed body was dumped outside her sister-in-law’s house. A large crowd gathered after the ‘body’ was spotted. Just as the family had started mourning her death -  she stunned everyone with a twitch of her head.

She was rushed to the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital where doctors were able to revive her. Tabinda*, who had axe wounds to her forehead, legs, back and arms among other scars and bruises regained consciousness the same day.The recuperating survivor managed also to dole out a statement to the police, positively identifying the assailants, their motives and details of her ordeal.

Tabinda revealed that she was kidnapped by Allah Yar Ghallu, the son of an influential local landlord, with the help of his friends Hafeez Ghallu, Allah Baksh Ghallu and a man she did not recognise. She recalled how the men took her to a field during the night and repeatedly sexually assaulted her between spells of beatings.

Immediately after daybreak, she said that they clubbed her with an axe until she passed out.

Her medical examination has confirmed that she was assaulted by four men and hit multiple times by a sharp, pointed object.

Motivation

Tabinda’s husband Akbar* revealed that Allah Yar is the son of a well-known landlord in their community. He stated that the family had first met Allah Yar, when his father approached Akbar’s family expressing his wish to marry Allah Yar to his sister.

He stated that his father refused the proposal since the landlord’s son had a very bad reputation.

The Ghallus then approached Tabinda’s father Allah Ditta, seeking her hand in marriage. Advised against accepting the offer, Allah Datta too turned down the request.

Soon afterwards, Tabinda was engaged to Akbar and his sister to Tabinda’s uncle. Six months ago, the two new couples, tied the knot in a small, joint ceremony. Akbar said that he had no idea that Allah Yar had taken such deep offence and would exact such brutal ‘revenge’.

He believed that his wife was dumped outside his sister’s house to intimidate both families and deter prosecution. Akbar has registered his complaint at the City police station. The police have failed so far to arrest any of the accused.

*The names have been changed to  protect the girl’s privacy

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2010.