Justice delayed: Families protest police’s failure to arrest killers

Two demonstrations held in Faisalabad and another in Toba Tek Singh.

FAISALABAD/ TOBA TEK SINGH:

Family and neighbours of two men, who were killed over a dispute over money, demonstrated against the police on Monday.

The protesters placed the bodies in front of the Sandal Bar police station and shouted slogans against the police’s failure to arrest the suspects.

The protesters said that Zulfiqar and Muhammad Imran, both cattle dealers and residents of Chak 32-JB, had had a dispute with Ghulam Ahmed Pervaiz and Azeem. They said that Azeem had borrowed Rs1 million from Zulfiqar a few months ago.

When he asked for the money, they said, Azeem and Pervaiz called him to their house and shot him. Imran, who had accompanied Zulfiqar to Azeem’s house, was also shot. They both died on the spot. Their bodies were later dumped in a seepage drain, where they were spotted by some passers-by who informed the police.

The bodies were sent for autopsy and handed over to the families, who protested against the police for not registering a case against the suspects and arresting them.

They also demanded that the police help them recover the Rs1 million the deceased had lent to their assailants.

The protesters dispersed when Station House Officer Chaudhry Abdul Majeed Gujjar arrived at the scene and assured them that the suspects would be arrested soon.

The SHO later told The Express Tribune that they had arrested one of the suspects.

In another protest, family and neighbours of two brothers, who were shot more than a week ago, accused the police of negligence and delay in arresting the suspects.

Haider and Jafar were shot by some unidentified assailants on a motorcycle on December 22 when they were sitting at a shop in Noorul Amin Colony. Haider had died on the spot. Jafar was taken to a hospital, where he died on Monday.

The protesters blocked the road in front of Allied Hospital, causing a traffic jam for hours on the Jail Road. They said nine days had passed but the police had yet not arrested any suspect. They dispersed when SSP (operations) and several other police officials arrived at the scene and assured them that the culprits will be arrested.



In Toba Tek Singh, families of two people who died after drinking a cough syrup on Monday, protested against the Health Department.

One of the deceased, Muhammad Nadeem, a resident of Chak 331-JB, was a labourer. On Sunday night, his family found him lying unconscious in his room. They said he had been vomiting. He was taken to district headquarters hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Doctors who had treated him said he had died due to a cough syrup overdose.

Another man was found dead near a tehsil municipal authority’s labour hall on Jhang Road. Passers-by who had informed his family and called the police said that they had found a bottle of cough syrup in his pocket when they searched him for an identity card.

Protesters, including families of the deceased and residents of the area, said the government must ban the unsafe brands of cough syrups. They demanded the Health Department order an inquiry into the matter.

In Gujranwala, Health Department has constituted seven squads to carry out a crackdown on quacks and medical stores selling the brands of cough syrup suspected to have caused the deaths in Gujranwala, Lahore and Faisalabad region.

These teams will work in Nandipur Town, Arup Town, Khayali Town, Qila Deedar Singh Town, Kamoke, Nowshera Vikran and Wazirabad. According to Health officials, 43 people have died after drinking the cough syrup, while 20 are under treatment at various hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2013.