Up in arms: ‘Police refusing to register murder case’

Complainant says suspects have threatened his family with dire consequences

FAISALABAD: Scores of residents of Waris Pura gathered at Zila Council Chowk on Monday and held a demonstration against the police in front of the city district government secretariat. They accused the police of taking a bribe from suspects in a murder case and not registering an FIR.

The protesters held up banners and placards carrying slogans against the police. They held a sit-in on University Road and blocked it for traffic for several hours.  Yaqoob Masih, father of the deceased, told reporters that his son Zeeshan had been shot dead on August 24 by 24 suspects including Ghulam Abbas, Faisal Nazeer, Nadeem Inayat, Anjum Inayat, Asghar, Amir, Shamim Akhtar, Afshan and Haroon Sohail. “We visited the police station at once and filed a complaint…instead of registering an FIR and taking the suspects into custody, the police refused to register a case and sent us off.”

He said the police had taken a bribe from the suspects and were protecting them. Yaqoob Masih said the suspects had also threatened his family with dire consequences if he pursued the case.

The protesters shouted slogans against the police and demanded that they arrest the suspects without delay.

Abdul Haq, a representative of the Faisalabad CPO, arrived at the sit-in and spoke to the protesters. He assured them that they would be provided justice at any cost. “The culprits will be taken to task,” Haq promised.

The protesters then called off the demonstration and left.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2016.