May 9 riots: over 1k held in city

The number of arrests related to the May 9 mayhem in Lahore has crossed 1,000, while the total number of suspected rioters arrested throughout Punjab is 5,615.

According to a Punjab Police report, 55 cases were registered under anti-terrorism laws over the violent incidents. Of them, 14 cases were registered in Lahore, 14 in Rawalpindi, 11 in Sargodha, eight in Gujranwala, and four each in Faisalabad and Multan.

In the cases, 138 suspects were nominated in Lahore and 7,220 were unidentified. In Gujranwala, 385 people were nominated in the FIRs and there were 2,160 unidentified suspects. There were 310 were nominated and 2,160 unidentified suspects in the cases of terrorism registered in Rawalpindi, while 505 nominated and 2,471 unidentified suspects were booked in Sargodha, 170 nominated and 1,046 unidentified in Faisalabad, and 37 nominated and 870 unidentified in Multan.

Meanwhile, a report to gauge the police response, especially in dealing with the Jinnah House arson, has also been prepared with pictorial and video evidence.

According to the report, the protestors had started gathering at Liberty Chowk at 3pm. Contingents from the Police Lines started moving at 3:07pm and continued the process till 3:51pm. The water cannon was moved out of Police Lines at 3:30pm.

The police remained engaged with protesters at Zaman Park from 4:30pm to 5pm.

The report declared that the police deployment has been increased in the cantonment by 4:28pm.

A confrontation of the SP of Cantonment with protesters occurred at 5pm at Sherpao Bridge. The city and Civil Lines SPs and DIG Operations Ali Nasir Rizvi had also joined the police at the point.

Rizvi along with other policemen was injured in clashes with the protestors at the spot.

The police have so far registered 291 cases related to the May 9 violence across the province. Of the total cases, 56 have been registered in the provincial capital. The cases have been registered against 34,671 people across the province, including 9,336 in Lahore.

The data showed that 1,004 of the suspects have so far been arrested in Lahore, while the figure across the province is 5,615.

The number of people facing cases of terrorism is 7,358 of whom 138 have been nominated and 7,220 are unidentified. The number of arrests in the cases registered under the antiterrorism law across Punjab has reached 2,738. Only 516 of them are among the nominated suspects in the cases.

Meanwhile, IG Dr Usman Anwar told the media that the suspects were being traced in the light of geo-fencing and other evidences.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2023.