Pindi cops thrash traffic warden for refusing entry

CTO files application for FIR against officials; RPO suspends Westridge SHO and others involved

RAWALPINDI: A Station house officer (SHO) along with other cops on Wednesday thrashed an elderly traffic warden for stopping them from parking their vehicles inside the City Traffic Headquarters near the Race Course.

Westridge police SHO Muhammad Asif and seven other police officers thrashed 59-year-old Traffic Constable Faiz Ahmed. The warden was so badly beaten that he reportedly suffered a fracture in his right arm. Talking to the media at the District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ), the wounded traffic warden said that he was performing his duty at the entrance of the traffic office when the SHO Asif arrived in his private car.

“The SHO wanted to take his car inside the office to park,” Ahmed said.

“When I told him that there was no room for parking inside the premises, he parked his car right in front of the gate and went inside and told Traffic DSP Taimoor Khan that I did not allow his car to come inside. The DSP asked me to create some space and let the SHO park his car,” the warden said.

He added that he created space for the SHOs car after which it was parked inside the office.

After a few minutes, Ahmed said the SHO returned while accompanied by seven to eight other policemen and started thrashing him.

A traffic police official privy to the incident told Express Tribune that the angry SHO even misbehaved with Chief Traffic Officer Shahid Ali Yousaf when the latter asked the former why he had thrashed the old traffic warden. The SHO has a rank of a sub-inspector while the CTO has a rank of superintendent.

The traffic official further said that the SHO was visiting the office to meet with Potohar Division SP Attique Tahir, whose office is located on the premises.

Meanwhile, CTO Yousaf said he had obtained CCTV footage of the incident and all the culprits had been identified. He added that the video had been presented to the Regional Police Officer Wisal Fakhar Raja and City Police Officer Israr Ahmed Abbasi for further action. Moreover, he said that he had filed an application with the Westridge police station for lodging an FIR against the officers.

He added that no one would be allowed to take law into their own hands.

While reviewing the situation, RPO Raja suspended the SHO Asif and the other officers seen thrashing the warden. He also ordered registering criminal cases against the officers, sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2017.