Cops beat up 55-year-old man in Lahore

CCTV footage shows they stopped him when he took a wrong u-turn

LAHORE: A man was allegedly beaten up by a traffic warden and officials of the Dolphin Force—a newly established squad specialising in patrolling.

Closed circuit television camera (CCTV) footage showed that the incident occurred when the 55-year-old man, along with a relative, was on his way home on a motorcycle from the Services Hospital. As they reached Ghousul Azam Road, they took a wrong u-turn due to which a traffic warden deputed at the point stopped them. After a brief alteration, the wardens assaulted the men.

Meanwhile, a passerby called 15. The footage showed that a team of the Dolphin Force reached the spot, but instead of taking control of the situation, it became a party to the conflict and also started beating up citizens. Some passersby intervened when the condition of the victim started deteriorating. Taking advantage of the situation, wardens and officials of the Dolphin Force disappeared from the scene.



Later, both parties tried to reconcile and reached the office of a private news channel to forgive each other.

Unfortunately, this was not the first incident of abuse of authority and high-handedness by men in uniform. Around two weeks ago, a teenage boy was allegedly beaten and molested by police officers in Shera Kot. The victim alleged that he was abducted and an assistant SI forced him to ‘please' his comrades at gunpoint. He was also reportedly filmed by the officials. Later, when the victim tried to register a complaint, the cops allegedly tried to implicate him in a mobile theft case.

A medical examination of the boy proved an assault and the FIR was registered on the orders of DIG Operations after the SHO refused to take action.

In the first week of March, a woman accused Begum Kot Chowki police officials of looting over Rs27,000 from her luggage during checking. She was travelling, along with her sister, in a rickshaw when police officials stopped them. "During checking, they stole my money," she claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2018.