OKARA:
Dozens of people attacked a police station after police officials allegedly refused to file a case regarding the murder of two men for resisting robbery.
According to eyewitnesses, dozens of the victims’ family members arrived the police station to protest for a case to be registered but when the police refused they began throwing stones and bricks at the police. According to Okara residents, Mandi Ahmadabad residents protested after Haji Chand village resident Muhammad Amjad was killed trying to resist a robbery at his own home.
“It happened on Sunday night when three men broke into the house and tried to take his money and belongings. He tried to resist and they gunned him down,” said Amjad’s housekeeper Majeeda. Amjad’s family said that they had tried to register a case with the police but police officials refused to take action.
Meanwhile, on Monday morning Ahmadabad resident Muhammad Ramzan was gunned down while robbers tried to make away with his television and car. Ramzan’s neighbours told police officials that they arrived at the scene when they heard the gunfire but he was already dead by the time. “We took him to the hospital but he had been shot several times and was already dead,” his neighbour Fahad Tariq said. Tariq told reporters that police officials refused to file the case.
Family members of both victims arrived at the Okara police station and began to protest for a case to be registered.
When police officials refused, dozens of Ramzan and Amjad’s family members began throwing bricks and stones at the police station. The protesters also broke windows of the police van and smashed windows of the station.
“It was a riot and the police had to intervene,” said a police official, on condition of anonymity.
Police officials responded by resorting to aerial firing and tear gas.
Dozens were injured during the riots when police officials began baton charging at the protesters to disperse the crowd. The protesters remained outside the police station for over three hours. Police officials have yet to register a case regarding the robberies.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2011.
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