Two killed, three wounded in crossfire near Data Darbar

LAHORE: Two people were killed and three others injured in crossfire between two groups in the Pir Makki, Data Darbar, area on Friday.

The crossfire took place between two groups over the issue of parking push carts in front of a tea stall. The wounded victims were rushed to hospital where the condition of one of them was stated to be critical.

Later, the family members and relatives of the victims staged a protest demonstration against the killings in front of Lady Willingdon Hospital. The protesters placed the victims’ bodies in the middle of the road, chanted slogans and burnt tyres. The protesters also attacked Metro Bus Service and public and private property, upon which, the bus service was suspended. Later, the bodies were shifted to morgue for autopsy.

The protest led to a severe traffic mess as hundreds of vehicles remained stuck there for hours. The traffic police, who were busy diverting the traffic to alternative routes from the blocked roads, doubled the miseries of travellers by blocking the roads by setting up barricades many kilometres away from the place of the protest.

Youth dies: A 16-year-old youth was killed by a speeding truck in the Mozang police area on Friday. Victim Deedar Khan hailed from Shangla and worked at a juice shop at Old Anarkali. He was going on a bike when a recklessly-driven truck hit and injured him. He was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The body has been removed to morgue.

road accidents: Six people were killed and 543 badly injured in total 785 road accidents reported to the Provincial Monitoring Cell of the Punjab Emergency Service/Rescue 1122 from all districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours. The injured were removed to hospitals. However, some 342 victims, who sustained minor injuries, were provided with first aid by the emergency medical teams.

IG: Inspector General of Police, Punjab, Arif Nawaz Khan has said that delay in police proceedings pertaining to abuse of women and children will not be tolerated at all and early arrest of the culprits of such crimes must be ensured.

He gave these directions while addressing a video link conference of all regional police officers and district police officers. He said that the officers or officials found involved in delaying the proceedings of child abuse cases would be dealt with strict disciplinary action. He said that, firing or torture of citizens in case of emergency was not acceptable at all and action would be taken against the officials if found guilty of it. He directed them to ensure implementation of SOPs of public handling during protests and sit-ins.

The IG directed the RPOs and DPOs to take steps to improve the efficiency of the riot force in case of emergency during protests and mobs. He asked them to ensure that riot squads were equipped with all necessities like mega phones and water canons in all districts. He also said that permission should not be given to fire shots at citizens even in violent protests. In such circumstances, DPOs themselves should command and brief the personnel on the sensitivity of their duty so that they might perform their duties diligently, the IG added. During the conference, the situation of women and child abuse and its prevention was discussed.