TOBA TEK SINGH: Razabad police (Faisalabad) on Monday recovered a child two-and-a-half hours af ter his kidnapping.

Police said Muhammad Talha (12) was lured by her aunt (his mother`s sister) Shabana Bibi and her husband Muhammad Arshad when he came out of his school and took him away to their house in Diglaspura locality. They telephoned Talha`s mother and demanded Rs3.5 million ransom, threatening that if not paid the boy will be killed. Police traced the location of the caller and recovered Talha.

Police have registered a case and arrested the couple.

SEMINAR: The Hometown Community Foundation (HCF) has embarked upon an ambitious project to involve all the stakeholders to observe the World Anti-Narcotics Day on June 26 in a befitting manner.

Addressing a seminar in Faisalabad on Monday, Dr Maqsood Ahmad of the HCF expressed concerns atcondnuousincreasein useof narcotics and proportionate hike in the number of deaths particularly during the Covid-19 when unemployment pushed more than 20m individuals below the poverty line.

Dr Ahmad said geographically Pakistan was situated in a region where opium, morphine, marijuana, hemp and other sedatives were freely available to the potential consumers of the narcotics.

Quoting data of the UN office on Drugs and Crime, he said Pakistan had 6.7m drug users and we must pool our energies to bring the number down to the minimum level. He said the government agencies, academic institutions and community leaders were making solo flights to curb this menace, which was the main cause of their failure to rein in this problem.

Mr Ahmad said the HCF had launched a project to join the psycho-socioeconomic efforts at one platform with dedicated activists to penetrate into the vulnerable segments. He urged the NGOs working in the sector to pool their energies to weed out this narcotics menace from society.

BURNS: Two minor children suf-fered burns when boiling milk fell on them on Monday at Faisalabad`s Fareedi Chowk area on Millat Road.

Adnan said his daughter Meerab Fatima (5) and son Ali Akbar (1) were playing near the oven. When they touched the milk pan, it fell on them as a result they suffered burns and were admitted to Allied hospital.

SHOT DEAD: Five people allegedly shot dead a man in a Faisalabad village on Monday over a trifle.

Complainant Ashig Ali in the first information report filed by Kurrh (Tandlianwala) police under sections 302, 148 and 149 of PPC said a Milad function for women was held in the house of his brother Altaf Husain at Chak 598-GB where suspect Manzoor Hussain attempted to enter to attend the event. He said Altaf Hussain and others stopped him from entering the house.

Later, Manzoor Hussain came along with his four accomplices and fired on Altaf Hussain who suffered critical injuries and succumbed to his wounds on way to Tandlianwala T HQ hospital.

Police are conducting raids to arrest the suspects.