Delay in killers’ arrest: Mob torches office, vehicle in protest

Tensions grip Dhamial area.

RAWALPINDI: A protest on Wednesday evening against the delay in arresting the killers of Shoaib Iqbal Raja, who was killed on the polling day during the local government elections, descended into mob violence.

Eyewitnesses said supporters of Basharat Raja — the deceased’s uncle and a former provincial law minister — and residents of Dhamial village torched an election office and an SUV belonging to a relative of Asad Mahmmod, the main accused and the son of Janisar alias Saleem Numberdar, who had contested the election for the slot of chairman in Union Council-86 Dhamial on a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ticket.

Shoaib Raja was killed at a polling station in Hayal. Mahmood, his father, his younger brother Ikhlaq Mahmood, and their supporters have been accused of killing Raja.

On Wednesday, a crowd of over 100 people gathered at Darbar Chowk in Hayal near Bank Colony in Saddar and torched the jeep, which was parked outside Iftikhar Numberdar’s house, said eyewitness Shabbir Ahmed.

The protesters also tore down and burnt posters and banners of Iftikhar Numberdar and Asad Mahmood.

Imran Shahid, a resident of the locality, told The Express Tribune that the protesters also set fire to Asad Mahmood’s election office. No one was present inside at the time, he said, adding that the mob also forced shopkeepers to close their shops. The eyewitness said tension and fear gripped the locality.

Some area residents informed Rescue 1122 and the police about the incident and fire tenders arrived to douse the flames. By the time a heavy police contingent reached the scene, the mob had dispersed.

Basharat Raja said that the police had failed to arrest the murder suspects. When asked about the mob, he claimed that they were all locals who were angry. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2015.