PTI protesters damaged official property worth Rs154m, says IGP
• Three-member committee set up to probe use of KP’s official resources for rally
• Cop injured from stone pelting passes away; funeral held at Express Chowk
• 10 cases registered against miscreants
• 120 Afghans, eight KP policemen among 878 arrested during demonstrations
ISLAMABAD: Announcing the death of a policeman, who was injured allegedly during rioting by the PTI protesters, the IGP of Islamabad on Sunday disclosed that the miscreants had damaged 441 cameras of Safe City Authority, 10 vehicles and 31 motorcycles of police officials and private guards.
Addressing a news conference, IGP Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said Constable Abdul Hameed Shah, a father of three, had sustained injuries from stone pelting at Chungi No 26 and was also subjected to torture. He was hospitalised where he passed away.
The IGP added that another 31 policemen were injured during rioting in the capital over the past two days, adding that the PTI protesters had damaged official property worth over Rs154 million.
Mr Rizvi promised justice to the deceased cop’s family and added that a murder case is being registered against all those found involved in the incident.
He said the miscreants also set fire to a crane and two motorcycles and damaged or destroyed traffic signals and several private vehicles.
Advances teams of different countries were in Islamabad in connection with the upcoming SCO meeting as was the Malaysian prime minister when the PTI miscreants stormed the capital, he regretted.
“This was not just a protest, but terrorism,” the IGP said, adding that official resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including police weapons, clubs, masks, and tear gas shells were used in it.
The protesters fired tear gas shells at the police and resorted to firing at various entry points, he claimed.
Ten cases were registered against the miscreants at eight police stations under separate sections of laws, including Anti-Terrorism Act, Mr Rizvi said, adding that so far 878 protesters, including 120 Afghans and eight police officials of KP, were taken into custody. He said a number of miscreants managed to escape.
He pointed out that most of the Afghan detainees were staying in Pakistan illegally, adding that some of them had come from outside.
The PTI protesters led by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur wanted to storm Islamabad, he said, adding that they rioted at Chungi No 26 before reaching Jinnah Avenue.
The miscreants engaged the police at Chungi No 26, Faizabad, D-13, China Chowk, and at the Islamabad entry point from Haripur via Margalla Hills with the strategy to open several fronts with law enforcers so that they could reach D-Chowk and stage a sit-in, he said.
“Now we will trace the hideouts of the miscreants in Islamabad to arrest them,” Mr Rizvi said, adding that Safe City Islamabad and Special Branch of the police had been tasked with the responsibility of identifying the miscreants and their vehicles.
The IGP said it was for the first time in the history of Islamabad that an 8,800-strong force was deployed to maintain law and order.
Meanwhile, funeral of Constable Abdul Hameed Shah was held at Express Chowk on Sunday. The cop had joined the police service in 1988 and was due to retire in three months.
Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and senior officers from Islamabad and Punjab police as well as Frontier Constabulary were among those who attended the funeral prayers.
The funeral procession concluded with a heartfelt salute from the squad before the constable’s body was transported to his hometown with full official honours.
Probe panel
In a significant development, the Interior Ministry constituted a committee to probe the use of official resources and manpower by the KP government in the rally organised for the PTI sit-in at Islamabad.
According to a notification, the committee comprises Additional Secretary Interior Ministry Riffat Mukhtar, who will be convener, Additional Director General FIA Munir Masood Marath and a representative of IB not below grade 20.
The committee will ascertain the number and types of government vehicles used in the rally, besides the number of government employees and officials accompanying it.
It will establish who had ordered the departments of the KP government for the use of government resources in the rally.
The inquiry committee shall submit its findings in seven days.
Police had recovered official weapons, rubber bullets, tear gas shells along with marbles, sacks of stone, salt, and face masks from the KP House when they entered the premises in hot pursuit of CM Gandapur.
Remand of Imran’s sisters
A local court handed over 10 women supporters of PTI, including two sisters of the party’s founder Imran Khan, to police on remand.
Police officers told Dawn that 10 women supporters of PTI, including Mr Khan’s sisters Aleema and Uzma, were arrested on Friday, and a case was registered against them at Kohsar police station.
Since the police were busy controlling PTI’s protest, they failed to produce the accused before a judge within 24 hours, which is a requirement under the law.
A senior police officer told Dawn that Mr Khan’s sisters — who were arrested under terrorism charges — were presented before a duty magistrate instead of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge due to their unavailability on Sunday.
The judge gave them into police custody on one-day transit remand. They will be produced in an ATC on Monday for physical remand, the officer said.
The eight other women were remanded into judicial custody for 14 days.
Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024