The video clip of a local politician and his armed men surrounding a police officer in Karak district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) made rounds on social media on Sunday.
The clip invited all kinds of rumours across the social media platforms as people speculated that local militants of Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz surrounded and ‘tortured’ a local DSP and SHO in broad daylight as the armed men visible in the video looked like militants.
When contacted Regional Police Officer (RPO) Kohat Region, DIG Tahir Ayub told The Express Tribune that the armed men visible in the video were not militants.
“These are the armed supporters and bodyguards of Maulana Shah Abdul Azizi of Takhat Nasarati, Karak who had announced a protest against the gas load shedding in the area,” he said, adding that he was going to the venue of the protest along with these armed men but was intercepted by police because they were carrying rifles and this led to the whole episode visible in the video.
“Police didn’t allow armed men to go and protest outside the oil plant. On this these armed bike riders stopped and a verbal dispute between the SHO and these men followed,” he said, adding that Maulana and his guards were not allowed to go for the protest with guns in the end.
“For threatening police officials an FIR has been registered against them,” he said.
District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur said that soon after the incident he reached the site and Maulana was stopped and only allowed to go when he asked his armed men to return and decided to protest unarmed.
“We were diplomatic because there were hundreds of protesters and we didn’t want to use force against them,” he added.
“I contacted JUI-F leaders and they said that the party had nothing to do with armed men,” maintained the DPO, saying that no one will be allowed to take law into his own hands and challenge the state writ.
Maulana Shah Abdul Azizi is a local politician who won a national assembly seat in the past.
He was affiliated with Jamaiat Ulema-e-Islam Samiul Haq faction but later joined JUI-F.
In a press conference he had announced an armed protest to be held outside the oil plant on Friday and on Saturday was going along with these armed men when the incident happened.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2021.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ