DPO held under house arrest, Rescue 1122 pleads innocence

SIALKOT: Former Sialkot district police officer Waqar Ahmed Chohan has been placed under house arrest here for 30 days.

He was detained by the Sialkot police on Monday on charges of negligence and for failing to stop the merciless lynching of the teenage brothers on August 15. According to reports, the new DPO is residing in the civil rest house in Sialkot.

The inquiry commission constituted to probe the barbaric incident of lynching of two brothers in Sialkot will submit its report to the Supreme Court (SC) today (Thursday).

Meanwhile, Director General Rescue 1122 Punjab Dr Rizwan Naseer claimed that the rescue centre is not responsible for negligence, as they tried to contact the police but they did not arrive promptly.

While speaking at a press conference in Sialkot, Rizwan Naseer said that the rescue team had put their lives on the line to protect the two brothers who were killed by the mob.

The Director General said that a cleric had brought the two teenagers to his office and were given full protection. He also claimed that the two boys had demanded that they be handed over to the police.

JI, PTI announce demonstrations

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has announced that it will observe a countrywide protest to condemn the brutal killings of the two brothers in Sialkot, on Friday. JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, in a statement issued on Wednesday, termed the killings of Mueez and Muneeb inhuman, unislamic and a brutal act. He condemned the role of the police and local administration for their complete negligence.

Similarly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has announced a daily six-hour long sit-in at Sialkot’s Allama Iqbal Chowk till the arrest of all the accused as a protest against the inhuman lynching of the two innocent brothers by people in the presence of senior police officials.

President PTI (Women’s Wing) Punjab Syeda Saloni Bukhari disclosed this while talking to journalists after consoling the bereaved family in Sialkot. She said that the incident was a reflection on the failure of the incumbent rulers and the system. She assured the family that the accused would be brought to justice. AGENCIES (with additional reporting by Junaid Aftab in Sialkot)

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2010