Five ‘robbers’ beaten up by crowd in Multan

Police rescue two from ‘hanging’; three shot, injured in Haroonabad.

MULTAN:

Five men were beaten up and three shot and injured by crowds in two incidents in Multan on Tuesday and Wednesday. The crowds said they were robbers and were caught red-handed.

The two caught in New Multan Colony on Tuesday were rescued by the police before the crowd could “hang them from a tree”.

The two, identified as Omar and Abu Bakr, were caught trying to snatch a motorcycle from a man.

The crowd that gathered at the spot started beating them up. The robbers had earlier shot at the crowd and injured a man.

New Multan police station house officer Jamshaid Akram who took the robbers away told The Express Tribune he would ensure appropriate action against the two. Responding to the crowd chanting slogans against the police, he said no one could be allowed to take the law into their hands. He said the two should be prosecuted on charges of attempted robbery and not killed straight away.

Talking to The Tribune, Muhammad Nasir, a resident of the colony, said the two should have been killed. He said killing the criminals was the only way left for the citizens to protect themselves. He added that the police were colluding with criminals and that they could no longer be relied upon.

He said crime rate in the area had gone up in the last few months and that the police had failed to control it. Another man in the crowd, Rafiq, said the people should have killed them. He said this was the best way to deal with criminals caught stealing or robbing the citizens. He said this was needed to shame the police because they had failed to provide security.

He asked how the police could be trusted when it was “understood” that they would release the criminals without even registering an FIR. He alleged that criminals in the area were paying a weekly fee to the police.

The man injured in the shooting by the robbers was shifted to a nearby hospital. He too alleged that the police were colluding with the criminals and that it would never have taken action against the two had the citizens not caught them.

SHO Akram rejected the allegations. He said the people were only making these allegations to justify their actions. He said the police were not perfect but the people could not be allowed to take law into their hands. He said police were using all resources to control crime in the area.

In the Haroonabad incident, the three injured men – Muhammad Sagheer, Muhammad Ameer and Allah Ditta – were handed over to the police after, the residents claimed, a shootout. They said the three had set up a picket and were robbing the passersby. A protest demonstration was also held at Fort Abbas Road against the police for supporting criminals.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.