Six arrested for torturing army officer

LAHORE: PMLN leaders Khawaja Salman Rafique and Hafiz Noman surrendered themselves before police in the case of torture of an army major on Thursday.

Police said PMLN leaders Khawaja Salman Rafique and Hafiz Noman have been named and arrested in the torture case. The complainant was of the view that at the behest of Khawaja Salman Rafique and Hafiz Noman, his son was subjected to inhumane torture on Wednesday.

Acting CCPO Shahzada Sultan told media during a press conference that Model Town police had registered an FIR and arrested four people involved in torturing a serving officer of a security agency. He held a press conference at Capital City Police Headquarters here Thursday. Talking to the media, the acting CCPO said a tragic incident took place near Kalma Chowk on Wednesday evening in which private guards of a political party leader stopped and tortured a serving officer of a security agency on a dispute over access to a road.

The victim officer tried to settle the incident through negotiation but was severely beaten by the guards. Upon receiving report of the incident through helpline 15, Model Town Police took immediate action and registered an FIR and arrested the four accused involved in the incident, DIG Investigation Shahzada Sultan said, adding investigation was being carried out on merit to bring the accused to justice.

The acting CCPO said that in the FIR, the plaintiff did not nominate any leader of political party. Replying to a question of a media person, Shahzada Sultan said foolproof security would be provided to the Punjab Assembly meeting to be held on April 16 as per law. Replying to another question, the CCPO said that the main reasons for rise in crime were economic inequality, social ills, unemployment and poverty, which necessitate the accountability of criminals, the abolition of outdated laws, new legislation and the strengthening of the criminal justice system. He said in order to control crime, all the institutions and every member of the society has to play their role.

An increase in accidents and deaths on roads is a matter of concern which deserves condemnation, he said. During Ramazan, patrolling and personnel deployment have been enhanced to provide foolproof security to mosques, financial institutions and markets, Shahzada Sultan said. SSP Admin Atif Nazir was present on the occasion. It may be recalled that on Thursday, PMLN leader Khawaja Salman Rafique had condemned the incident while talking to media outside Garden Town police station and said that the injured and officer and all citizens are respectable. He said he respects institutions and courts. “Yes, yesterday’s incident is reprehensible. The culprits have been handed them over to police. No one is above the law.”

Hafiz Noman also said that the staff car was left behind which they did not know, adding violence should be condemned. “We express our solidarity with our brother and his family.” The ISPR chief Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, in his press conference on Thursday, also condemned the incident.