Hold your fire: Aerial firing puts residents of Lahore at great risk

Police allegedly reluctant to file case against political activists who terrorised neighbourhood

LAHORE: Harbanspura police seemed reluctant to take action against influential PTI workers after some residents tried to file a report against them for spreading anarchy in the area by “indiscriminately firing” at their homes.

Senior Lahore police officials had earlier claimed that severe action would be taken against the display of firearms and aerial firing. They also announced a crackdown against illegal weapons.

However, recurrent incidents over the last year such as murders and attempted murder raised serious doubts over these claims.

Arshad Ali, a resident of Nabi Pura, told The Express Tribune that a marriage ceremony of a family member of Mian Khalid, a political activist, was taking place. At night, a group of guests, reportedly drunk, came out onto the street with firearms. They started kicking doors and challenging the residents to face them. The rowdies allegedly tried to provoke residents by saying, “who dares to challenge us”. He alleged that the gunmen then started firing at homes when nobody came out. “My five-year-old son barely survived being hit by a stray bullet”, Ali added.

“We hurried to the police station to report the incident, but a relative of the suspects was already at the police station.” The police reportedly paid no need to the complaints of residents. Ali added an ASI and moharar told them to be patient as aerial firing on wedding occasions was a matter of routine.

“After finding out that we approached the police to report the incident, the suspects again came and fired at our homes,” added Ali. “Police did not even bother to come to visit the crime scene and collect evidence”, he added.

“It is highly unfortunate that the police, rather than assuring them of protection, showed a lackadaisical attitude.” He feared the suspects may have bribed the police because they were not hearing any complaints.

Sub-Inspector Riaz Ahmad, who was marked as the investigation officer on the application, told The Express Tribune that the police only came to know of the incident on Friday night.

He said the cops would call both parties soon and hear their sides of the story.

This is not the first case of this nature. Aerial firing, display of arms to harass and intimidate opponents and illegal weapons are rife in the city.

Data showed that at least 2,815 cases were registered under the Punjab Arms Ordinance Bill 2015. A total of148 such cases were registered at the Shahdara police station, 137 in Kahna, 103 City Raiwind, 97 in Shahdara Town, 93 Sanda, 89 Sabzazar, 86 Shafiqabad, 86 Shera Kot, 82 Sundar and 80 in Baghbanpura.

A total of 2,432 cases attempted murder cases were registered over the last three years, according to the data of FIRs available with The Express Tribune. Of these, 798 cases were registered in 2016, 732 in 2015 and 902 in 2014.

As many as 1,491 murder cases were registered over the last three years. Of these, 440 were registered in 2016, 392 in 2015 and 659 in 2014. A total of 382 unsolved murder cases were recorded in the last three years.

The data painted a bleak picture and showed that on average, three incidents of attempted murder and two cases of murder were reported on a daily basis in the provincial metropolis.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2017.