Chinese engineers scuffle with police in Kabirwala

MULTAN: The Chinese engineers working on the M-4 project near Kabirwala exchanged harsh words and scuffled with the Special Protection Unit (SPU) personnel when they were stopped from going outside without security on Wednesday, The News has learnt.

The Chinese also attacked a SPU member and cut off electricity supply to their camp. According to details, the Chinese had hired a private security company which provided 21 guards, but tension mounted after salaries were not paid to them for the last two to three months. Resultantly, all the security guards went on strike Tuesday when the Chinese engineers again showed reluctance to pay the outstanding amount, police insiders said.

Later, the SPU headed by Maj Qaiser deputed 21 SPU personnel for security purposes. However, the Chinese engineers strongly objected on setting up a SPU camp near their site and disconnected power supply but the security personnel did not show any resistance and patiently faced the situation, the police officials said.

The brawl took place when the Chinese engineers attempted to leave the camp without security. The argumentstarted with verbal aggression but soon progressed into a physical fight, as the SPU personnel stopped them from leaving the premises. Reportedly, Chinese Project Engineer Danny allegedly hurled a chair at the SPU personnel and one of his colleagues climbed on top of a vehicle, as they later cut off power supply to the police camp.

Following the incident, Khanewal DPO Omer Gondal, Kabirwala assistant commissioner and other officials reached the site and tried to resolve the issue. The police insiders disclosed to The News that the Chinese engineers have written a letter to the government, claiming that their lives were in danger due to the presence of security officials. The letter read that the Chinese engineers attempted to leave the camp for work purposes but were stopped and assaulted by the SPU personnel. It also requested the government to remove the police officials from the camp.

On the other hand, Chinese company’s Deputy Project Manager Naeem Awan and Admin Officer Usama Bhatti informed a press conference about formation of an inquiry committee and said the dispute was a result of some misunderstanding, which had been resolved in the presence of DPO. All the engineers were currently working at the site with the same security officials, they added.

They said the reports that the Chinese wanted to leave the premises without security and added that the power supply had suspended due to outages and tripping of generators. They said some irresponsible elements tried to create a situation, adding that the Chinese engineers fully follow the security protocol.

This is not the first time that the Chinese have quarrelled with police officials. Some years back, they had a similar incident at a camp near Shujabad. And even the reason back then was the same – the engineers wanted to leave the camp and security officials stopped them from doing so.

When contacted, Multan RPO Muhammad Idrees said no physical fight had taken place and it was only exchange of harsh words when the Chinese engineers were prevented to go outside without security protection.