Law-enforcers?: SP Aslam’s guards run riot outside private school
Staffer threatened, manhandled and has gun pulled to his head.
KARACHI:
In a brazen display of daylight brutality, the security team of controversial police officer Chaudhry Aslam Khan ran riot outside a private school in the Defence Housing Authority on Wednesday - in the process assaulting and threatening to kill a high-ranking staffer of the school.
According to eyewitness accounts, the director of studies (DoS) at CAS was attacked by around a dozen armed men outside the premises of the school in Phase VIII. The DoS also had a gun pulled to his head, with the assailants threatening to shoot him dead on the spot. The men also screamed profanities at other staffers of the school, and threatened to kill them, too.
The men were identified as the guards of SP Sindh police Chaudhry Aslam, who lives down the road from the school.
According to the details gathered from interviews of eyewitnesses, including parents, drivers and area residents, the incident took place around 12:30 pm.
One of the traffic wardens in the area routinely stopped a vehicle that was driving down the wrong side of the Khayaban-e-Rumi, it was said. The wardens have been put in place to ensure that traffic gridlocks, which clutter many roads outside 7 to 8 schools in the area, are avoided. They are also in place to ensure the safety of the children who study in the schools from incidents of rash driving that regularly cause accidents in the area.
The man who was going down the wrong side of the road stopped his vehicle, and started abusing the warden. Eyewitnesses say that the DoS had just arrived outside and was going from his car into the school.
The DoS then approached the man, and asked him to stop shouting profanities, given that there were children around. “It all seemed fairly routine,” said one driver who was parked outside, who stressed that he is very happy with the traffic management system in place in front of the school.
The guard then yelled that he was from the “agencies” and could do as he pleased — threatening the DoS that “he would show him who he was”. He returned back to the house belonging to SP Chaudhry Aslam - which is a few houses down from the school.
From there, he picked up the security of the SP, who then all descended upon the school within minutes. The DoS was still outside, speaking to his staff when the men came and surrounded him. “They came like flies,” said one parent, “I was coming out of the school with my child, and we ran from the spot, fearing they would open fire. I could see that they hit him a number of times - and also put a gun to his head. I was stunned.”
“It was brute thuggery. I was on the side, but I was afraid to intervene. I mean, it was… I don’t have the words. I shudder to think ‘what if that was me’,” said another parent. “I felt helpless.”
Yet another parent told The Express Tribune that while the incident itself was shocking, some factors made it even worse.
“Firstly, it took place outside a school - while children were present inside,” she said, adding that “weapons were openly brandished and pointed at staffers of the school. What if they had opened fire? What would happen to the kids?”
“Secondly, the men who did this are not common criminals - they are the security escort of a serving policeman. I don’t know if they themselves were policemen, since they were in civilian clothes - but still, surely he has to accept blame for this.”
She then adds: “Or maybe they are common criminals, despite being in the police.”
The Darakshan SHO, when contacted, played down the incident, saying nobody had lodged a complaint. When contacted, the principal of the school declined to comment, saying the matter had been reported to the DIG (CID) and he hoped action would be taken against the policemen.
When The Express Tribune contacted SP Aslam, he denied any knowledge of the incident. “I’ve been at work all day so I don’t know if anything happened.” Despite repeated attempts, the Home Minister of Sindh could not be reached for comment.
The incident has left a scar on dozens of parents and some area residents who witnessed it. Given the history and reputation of SP Aslam, they say, no one in the police force or the government has the “guts” to take action against him. This is not an isolated incident. A number of neighbourhood residents have complained of the “harassment” caused by the security of SP Aslam.
One parent summed up the helplessness they felt: “It was horrific. Will the high-ups of the police not take note of this incident? Who will take note? Probably no one.”
*Eyewitnesses have asked that they not be named.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2011.
In a brazen display of daylight brutality, the security team of controversial police officer Chaudhry Aslam Khan ran riot outside a private school in the Defence Housing Authority on Wednesday - in the process assaulting and threatening to kill a high-ranking staffer of the school.
According to eyewitness accounts, the director of studies (DoS) at CAS was attacked by around a dozen armed men outside the premises of the school in Phase VIII. The DoS also had a gun pulled to his head, with the assailants threatening to shoot him dead on the spot. The men also screamed profanities at other staffers of the school, and threatened to kill them, too.
The men were identified as the guards of SP Sindh police Chaudhry Aslam, who lives down the road from the school.
According to the details gathered from interviews of eyewitnesses, including parents, drivers and area residents, the incident took place around 12:30 pm.
One of the traffic wardens in the area routinely stopped a vehicle that was driving down the wrong side of the Khayaban-e-Rumi, it was said. The wardens have been put in place to ensure that traffic gridlocks, which clutter many roads outside 7 to 8 schools in the area, are avoided. They are also in place to ensure the safety of the children who study in the schools from incidents of rash driving that regularly cause accidents in the area.
The man who was going down the wrong side of the road stopped his vehicle, and started abusing the warden. Eyewitnesses say that the DoS had just arrived outside and was going from his car into the school.
The DoS then approached the man, and asked him to stop shouting profanities, given that there were children around. “It all seemed fairly routine,” said one driver who was parked outside, who stressed that he is very happy with the traffic management system in place in front of the school.
The guard then yelled that he was from the “agencies” and could do as he pleased — threatening the DoS that “he would show him who he was”. He returned back to the house belonging to SP Chaudhry Aslam - which is a few houses down from the school.
From there, he picked up the security of the SP, who then all descended upon the school within minutes. The DoS was still outside, speaking to his staff when the men came and surrounded him. “They came like flies,” said one parent, “I was coming out of the school with my child, and we ran from the spot, fearing they would open fire. I could see that they hit him a number of times - and also put a gun to his head. I was stunned.”
“It was brute thuggery. I was on the side, but I was afraid to intervene. I mean, it was… I don’t have the words. I shudder to think ‘what if that was me’,” said another parent. “I felt helpless.”
Yet another parent told The Express Tribune that while the incident itself was shocking, some factors made it even worse.
“Firstly, it took place outside a school - while children were present inside,” she said, adding that “weapons were openly brandished and pointed at staffers of the school. What if they had opened fire? What would happen to the kids?”
“Secondly, the men who did this are not common criminals - they are the security escort of a serving policeman. I don’t know if they themselves were policemen, since they were in civilian clothes - but still, surely he has to accept blame for this.”
She then adds: “Or maybe they are common criminals, despite being in the police.”
The Darakshan SHO, when contacted, played down the incident, saying nobody had lodged a complaint. When contacted, the principal of the school declined to comment, saying the matter had been reported to the DIG (CID) and he hoped action would be taken against the policemen.
When The Express Tribune contacted SP Aslam, he denied any knowledge of the incident. “I’ve been at work all day so I don’t know if anything happened.” Despite repeated attempts, the Home Minister of Sindh could not be reached for comment.
The incident has left a scar on dozens of parents and some area residents who witnessed it. Given the history and reputation of SP Aslam, they say, no one in the police force or the government has the “guts” to take action against him. This is not an isolated incident. A number of neighbourhood residents have complained of the “harassment” caused by the security of SP Aslam.
One parent summed up the helplessness they felt: “It was horrific. Will the high-ups of the police not take note of this incident? Who will take note? Probably no one.”
*Eyewitnesses have asked that they not be named.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2011.