LAHORE Inaction and negligence on the part of Civil Lines and Cantt divisions’ police left seven people, including a woman, injured when eight members of a drug mafia patronized allegedly by a banned outfit resorted to indiscriminate firing in Ghausia Colony near Lalpul on Wednesday. The condition of the injured people was stated to be out of danger but panic gripped the entire locality as the attackers continued spraying the locals and their homes with bullets for over one hour. The injured persons were identified as Zohaib, 22, Amin Khan, Sheikh Waseem, Uzair, 15, Saleema Bibi 40, Shahbaz and one person remained unidentified. Despite the continuous tall claims of Lahore Police commanders regarding proactive policing and quick response to emergencies, ‘jawans’ of Civil Lines and Cantt divisions reached the scene after over one hour. Locals of the area kept on dialing Rescue 15 but police did not respond. The injured persons were lucky to have good response from Edhi Foundation as their ambulances reached the scene timely and shifted them to Services Hospital. After reaching the scene, policemen instead of chasing attackers started thrashing locals, including an old man. Locals of the area alleged that Mughalpura and Harbanspura police were patronizing the accused. Interestingly, Mughalpura DSP, Abdul Qayyum Gondal says that the drug peddlers fall in Baghbanpura police limits. The SP Cantt says that majorly incident occurred in Mughalpura and it fell into the precincts of Baghbanpura. The documents available with The News show that the locals of Mughalpura and Baghbanpura have been knocking at the doors of SHOs, Director Excise, SP Civil Lines, SP Cantt, DIG Operations, IGP and Punjab Chief Minister for the last nine months for action against the nexus of drug peddlers and banned outfit but to no avail.
The documents show that four of the accused persons identified as Ramzana alias Jhana, Abid alias Aabi, Danish alias Choocha and Umar were involved in drug peddling. Ramzan alias Jhanna was involved in various criminal cases. As the residents of the locality started lodging complaints against accused persons, they nurtured a grudge against complainants and threatened them. On Wednesday, at around 11 am, Zohaib, the son of Amin Khan, a neighbour was standing in the street when Danish alias Choocha along with three other accused persons exchanged some harsh words with him. Afterwards, they became angry and gave a good thrashing to Zohaib. Amin Khan, who worked as a Naib Court, went to complain to Ramzan alias Jhana and other persons. He had just reached the house of Ramzan alias Jhana when he and other accused persons opened an indiscriminate firing. As a result, Amin Khan received bullet injuries. The accused roamed in the locality while firing indiscriminately and shot at anyone they came across. They attacked the houses of the residents with a volley of bullets. Afterwards, they went to the house of Rafiq, another complainant, and started indiscriminate firing. As a result, Saleema Bibi received bullet-injuries. They beat the daughters of Rafiq as well. Animals tied outside the house of Rafiq were also injured. The accused kept on firing and roaming freely in the locality for more than an hour and injured at least seven persons. Residents said that as the firing started, they kept on calling police but they responded very late. Another resident, Shafiq said that his son Tauseef was stabbed with a knife by the main accused person, Ramzan alias Jhana on April 28, 2014. They had lodged a complaint (diary number 1462) to the Harbanspura SHO but no FIR was registered nor was any action taken. Rafiq, son of Bashir, said that Ramzan alias Jhana and two other accomplices had threatened their family many times. They had lodged a complaint to the Harbanspura SHO on July, 8, 2014 (diary number- 1299) asking for a strict action against the accused persons and provide them protection. ASI Rafaqat Dogar of Harbanspura police said that he had received the application of the residents against the accused persons few days ago. He said he was keeping an eye on the accused persons to find their involvement in the alleged crimes. Mughalpura Circle DSP Abdul-Qayyum Gondal said that they were looking for the accused persons and they would arrest them soon. When asked about the complaints of drug-peddling by Jhana Gang, he said that these cases and complaints were not lodged in his circle. Harbanpura and Mughalpura police have registered cases of the recent incident but failed to arrest any of the attackers. SP Cantt Nadeem said that he was not aware of the involvement of a banned outfit in the incident.
