LAHORE: The city police on Thursday arrested four persons of a political party for allegedly beating up a serving officer of the Pakistan Army over a dispute about road access near Kalma Chowk on Wednesday evening.

According to the FIR registered on the complaint of victim officer’s father Chaudhry Rashid Mehmood at Garden Town police station on Thursday, the plaintiff said that when his son Haris, a Major in the Pak Army, was going to his in-laws home in Iqbal Town for Iftar at around 4:50pm from Cantt, around 5-7 unidentified persons in a land cruiser intercepted his car and manhandled him.

The complainant said in the FIR that the attackers got infuriated and severely beat up his son when he told them that he is a serving in the Pak Army. The FIR further said that when the officer tried to run away from the spot in his Honda Civic car bearing registration number LEA-20-126, the attackers chased him in their land cruiser bearing registration number AHL-800 and stopped him near Masood Hospital, Kalma Chowk.

According to the report, as the officer did not come out and locked his car from inside, the suspects attacked his car with iron rods and smashed windscreen and side glasses. “The suspects then pulled out my son from his car and dragged him on the road and beaten him up with iron roads ‘with intent to kill’,” the complainant said, adding that the passerby saved his son from the suspects, who also took away his iPhone 11.

Meanwhile, acting Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Shahzada Sultan while addressing a press conference along with Senior Superintendent of Police (Admin) Atif Nazir said that a tragic incident took place near Kalma Chowk last evening (Wednesday) in which private guards of a political party leader stopped and tortured a serving officer of a security agency over a dispute over access to road.

He said the victim officer tried to settle the incident through negotiations but was severely thrashed by the guards. He said that upon receiving the report of the incident through helpline 15, the Model Town police took immediate action and registered an FIR and arrested four suspects involved in the incident.

The city police chief further said that investigation was being carried out on merit to bring the accused persons to justice, adding that the complainant did not nominate any leader of the political party.

Responding to a query about the role of police in the upcoming Punjab chief minister’s election in the Punjab Assembly, the acting CCPO said they would strive to provide foolproof security to the lawmakers on April 16 as per law.

When asked why the police department has miserably failed to control the increasing crime rate in the city, Shahzada said that main reasons for the rise in crimes are economic inequality, social ills, unemployment and poverty, which necessitate the accountability of criminals, the abolition of outdated laws, new legislation and the strengthening of the criminal justice system. He said that in order to control crimes, all the institutions and every member of society has to play their role.

Earlier in the day, the Commander IV Corps visited the CMH to inquire after the health of the injured officer. The commander also discussed the matter with Punjab IGP Rao Sardar Ali in detail and informed him that the Pak army will be pursuing the case with “full vigor”. The Punjab IGP has constituted a special team for speedy trial in the case.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022

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