Islamabad policeman embraces martyrdom after sustaining injuries in weekend clashes

Islamabad policeman Abdul Hameed Shah embraced martyrdom in a hospital on Sunday after succumbing to injuries sustained during protests in the federal capital a day earlier, police confirmed.

In a statement posted on X, Islamabad police said that “miscreants kept torturing Shah after abducting him.”

According to the statement, he was posted at Chungi No 26 for law and order duty.

It further added that he was part of the Investigations Wing, and was a resident of Abbottabad. He joined the police force in 1988.

“He was due to retire in three months after completing his police service,” the statement said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident and expressed his sympathies over Shah’s death “at the hands of PTI protesters”.

“PTI has always adopted a path of violence under the guise of protest,” according to a statement on X posted by the prime minister’s digital media account.

“This same political party has attacked the government building and broken the gates of Parliament House in the past,” the statement said. The premier directed that those involved in the incident be brought to justice.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed his condolences to the family of Shah.

He instructed the Inspector General of Police (IG) Islamabad to arrest the miscreants who tortured Hameed, according to a statement on X by the Ministry of Interior.

“We stand with the family in their hour of grief,” the statement said, adding that the family of the martyred will be looked after.

On Saturday, clashes between PTI supporters and the police turned violent in Islamabad, similar to scenes from a day earlier where contingents of the Pakistan Army were deployed to assume security duties ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

On Saturday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned of strict action in the coming days against PTI protesters, saying the police had evidence of live firing. He added that a total of 564 individuals were arrested, including 120 Afghans and 11 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police personnel.

Naqvi said the interior minister had initiated a high-level inquiry into how a provincial police force was involved in the protests and “attacked [other] police officers”, adding that “this has happened for the first time in Pakistan”.

He said 31 Islamabad police and 75 Punjab police personnel were injured but had not opened fire on the protesters in line with the government’s policy to avoid loss of lives.

According to state-run PTV, soldiers were deployed to make security arrangements in the federal capital “fool-proof”.

An earlier statement issued by PTV said army troops were actively patrolling the city to deal with any emergency. “The army has also been given clear and unambiguous rules of engagement. No miscreants will be allowed to disrupt law and order,” the statement said.

PTI supporters had flocked to D-Chowk as heavy rain in Islamabad dampened the effect of tear gas shelling by the police.

A Dawn.com correspondent present at the scene said PTI protesters occupied D-Chowk as police were forced back after smoke from the shot tear gas shells flowed back over to the law enforcement personnel due to the strong gusty winds.

PTI also shared footage of its supporters thronging D-Chowk.