Lynching of policemen: Seven suspects arrested during raids in twin cities

A case has been registered against 35 unidentified villagers.

ISLAMABAD: The police on Saturday night arrested seven suspects in connection with the lynching of two policemen in Doray Village.

Of the seven arrested, three had been nominated in a case registered by the Tarnol police over the murder of the policemen.

The police claimed the other four suspects were found to be connected with the case after preliminary investigations were conducted. The arrests were made during raids conducted in different parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, according to the police.

On Tuesday night, Assistant Sub-Inspector Muhammad Ramzan and Constable Ansar Abbas, both of the Ramna Police Station, were killed by villagers in Doray under mysterious circumstances.

According to unofficial police accounts, the two policemen --- both of whom were off-duty and not in police uniform --- had intercepted a man, identified as Hayat Khan, carrying narcotics. They had then gone to the village to catch the drug peddler who apparently provided Khan the drugs.

When the drug peddler resisted arrest, police sources said, the constable fired at him, killing the man. A mob of villagers gathered after hearing the sound of firing. The mob captured the policemen, took them inside a room and killed them by beating them with bricks and stones.

But other sources said the policemen had gone to the village on a personal visit to help broker a narcotics deal. In both versions of the incident, a confrontation between the policemen and the alleged drug dealer, Nadeem Gul, led to Gul’s death and the lynching of the policemen. Doray Village is notorious for being a den of drug dealers.

In the First Information Report registered at Tarnol Police Station, villager Muhammad Naeem had told the police that villagers gathered after hearing shots fired by alleged robbers. Naeem said five or six robbers were firing during which his brother, Gul, was hit by a bullet. He reported to the police that three of the robbers escaped while two were killed.

Tarnol Police Station House Officer Muhammad Ashraf also filed a complaint and a case was registered against 35 unidentified villagers, including ten alleged drug dealers. They were booked for murder, among other charges, according to police sources.

After some media reports had linked Hayat Khan --- who was rescued from the scene after a police search party responded to a 15 call from the area --- with a politician or a senior bureaucrat, the police issued an official statement on the matter. A police spokesman said Khan claimed to be related to a politician, which was later proven to be a lie.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2013.