SHO, constable suspended over Gulbahar Colony firing

PESHAWAR: The station house officer of Gulbahar Police Station was and head constable were suspended for not taking timely action against a group of armed men who had stormed a locality in Gulbahar No 4 and terrorized citizens, including woman and children, by resorting to heavy firing in bid to demolish by force a portion of the boundary wall.

The residents of Awan Street said their colony had 87 houses and a couple of plots of land along with a boundary wall. They said Awan Street with planned constructions, paved streets and proper sanitation has attracted the attention of people. The property prices have, hence, gone high there. That is why, they said, some greedy elements had acquired land contiguous to the Awan Street outside its boundary wall and wanted to include these lands in the colony to earn more profit. The residents said merging more areas with lands from the nearby villages would leave the gated colony insecure.

They said these elements had been forcing them to demolish the boundary wall to give entrance to their lands but they opposed the suggestion every time.

On Tuesday night, they said, the armed men entered their colony, started pulling down a portion of the boundary wall forcibly, and resorted to firing with automatic arms when the residents offered resistance. This created panic among the people, especially women and children. The residents alleged that police arrived late at the scene despite calling and took along the accused but no case was registered.

The various video clips of the troubled incident where women could be heard crying in fear and calling for calm amide gunfire went viral on the social media platforms which was widely shared by the users. Most viewers criticized the government, administration and the law-enforcement agencies after accusing them of being lethargic.

The Awan Street residents complained that they had reported the incident to the police but the force failed to take any action in time. They said they sent the video clips to the top government and police officials which led to the registration of a case against six accused for brandishing weapons and firing shots during a scuffle with inmates of Awan Street. All the six seen in the videos brandishing automatic weapons were persons were arrested

The Capital City Police Officer on Thursday suspended Gulbahar SHO Ihsan Ullah and In -charge of the post, head constable Masood Khan, also directing an inquiry into the matter and departmental proceedings against both the officials.