Cops arrested for firing and injuring three at a picket

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Two policemen were arrested on Sunday for shooting at a car that had sped off at a picket in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Taunsa DSP Javed Akhtar Jatoi said that the cops had been stationed at a check post in the Saakar area. They had stopped a car for checking but the driver had sped off. Jatoi said the policemen had shot at the car and had injured three people in it – the driver, a former MPA, and a union council chairman.

Jatoi said Wasim, the driver, former MPA Mir Badsha Qaiserani, and UC Chairman Shahid Khan were taken to the Taunsa Tehsil Headquarters Hospital. However, Khan and Wasim were in critical condition, the DSP said. Khan was later referred to Nishter Hospital in Multan.

The DSP said Muhammad Ramazan and Muhammad Sibtain, the cops who had fired the shots at the car, had been arrested and were being interrogated.

Following the incident, hundreds of people of the Qaiserani Tribe gathered on the Indus Highway near Kot Morr and held a demonstration against the police.

Commenting on the incident, the former MPA said this was “terrorism by the police”. He claimed that he had been targeted and that a police vehicle had also rammed into his car. The former MPA said he had requested high-ups to take up the matter and investigate it. “I want serious action taken against the cops responsible for this terrible incident.” The Dera Ghazi Khan DPO has asked police to submit a detailed report on the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2016.