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The Pakistan Army has allegedly assaulted police officers and targeted a police station following a dispute over the seizure of an allegedly illegal weapon from a member of a soldier’s family in Punjab’s Bahawalnagar district. The incident has sparked widespread outrage after videos of the incident went viral on social media.
In one video shared on social networking sites, the police officers, clad in uniform, were forced to kneel on the ground by the army personnel, newswire PTI reported. In another video, two officers undergoing severe mistreatment were observed pleading with the army personnel to refrain from further harm.
In another video clip, two young uniformed cops were seen running to escape being caught by the army personnel, but they were ultimately caught.
“Three civilians were illegally detained and the Punjab police personnel were demanding money for their release,” PTI reported citing sources.
“The policemen also raided the residence of an army officer to arrest an accomplice of the trio. This piqued some army personnel who then raided the Madrassa police station at Bahawalnagar to free those three persons. During that raid, the policemen were tortured,” a senior police officer told PTI on Thursday.
After the incident, four policemen, namely SHO Abbas Rizwan, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Iqbal, and Ali Raza, who were allegedly subjected to torture, were suspended and arrested. Furthermore, they face charges under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for unlawfully detaining three individuals and extorting money from them.
The Punjab police, in a statement, said: “This matter in Bahawalnagar, which went viral on social media, has been taken out of context and exaggerated. Fake propaganda is being made on social media.”
“The episode is being presented in a way to imply that there has been fighting between the Pakistan Army and Punjab Police,” the statement said, adding, “When the unverified videos went viral, both institutions launched a joint investigation. Officers from both institutions reviewed the facts and peacefully resolved the matter.”
The statement, quoted by the PTI , further said, “Punjab Police and the Pakistan Army are cooperating to eliminate terrorists, miscreants and criminals from the province. We request that social media users do not spread fake propaganda.”
Meanwhile, sources sais, that the injured policemen were taken to hospital where their medico-legal examination was not allowed.
Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar has asked Punjab police chief Dr Usman Anwar to resign after the humiliating incident.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Published: 12 Apr 2024, 09:42 AM IST
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