Politics and crime: ‘The MNA is trying to teach us a lesson for opposing him’

Protesters demand release of 7 nabbed over suspicion of involvement in robbery at MNA Ansari’s house

FAISALABAD: Scores of residents of Marzipura held a demonstration on Tuesday to protest against police for arresting seven people from the area held on suspicion of robbery at MNA Haji Akram Ansari’s house on Monday morning.

The protesters held up placards and banners and blocked Marzipura Road for traffic. They shouted slogans against the government and the police and demanded that the detained people be released without delay.

Talking to journalists, Akram Ali, one of the protesters, said that Ghulam Muhammad Abad police had arrested seven men from their area – Shehzad, Amjad, Faryad, Shayan, Asif and two others – for robbing Ansari’s house.

“We were Ansari’s political rivals in the elections. We are being punished for it,” he said. “Everyone knows the treatment police mete out to the people they detain on false charges…Ansari is only trying to teach us a lesson for opposing him in the elections.”

The protesters also shouted slogans against Ansari.

A heavy police contingent sent to the demonstration scene asked the protesters to leave. They told them to open the road for traffic and threatened to baton-charge them if they did not cooperate. After a round of negotiations in which the police promised to solve their issues amicably, the protesters dispersed.

When contacted, Ghulam Muhammad Abad SHO Akram Khan Lodhi told The Express Tribune that the police had arrested seven men over suspicion of involvement in the robbery at MNA Haji Akram Ansari’s house. “We are still investigating the matter. The suspects are being interrogated…if they are found innocent, they will be released.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2016.