BAHAWALPUR: A male body, packed in a sack, was found near a petrol pump on Bahawalpur-Hasipur Road on Thursday.

Panic and fear gripped the area around Baghdadul Jadid railway station when the residents found the body.

Baghdadul Jadid police, on being alerted, shifted the body to the morgue of the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) for a postmortem examination.

DPO office`s public relation officer Umar Saleem told Dawn that according to initial reports, the unidentified man was allegedly murdered.

He stated the police entered the incident into police records under section 172 of the Pakistan Penal Code and a campaign would be launched to ascertain the identity of the body with public support.

In case, deceased`s family was traced and they launched a complaint, a murder case may be registered in accordance with the contents of their plaint.

FIRE: The wheat crop in fields near Gullan De Hatti, about 30 kilometres from Bahawalpur, on Ahmedpur East Road was burnt to ashes on Thursday.

According to eyewitness and affected farmers Muhammad Yar, Akhtar Abbasi and Muhammad Baksh, alias Kala, the fire was caused by the sparks flying out of a nearby power transformer.

According to them, the spark was due to shortcircuiting as the transformer was defective. They demanded compensation.