August 02, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 1: The six men detained by the Chuhng police on Thursday following a workers’ protest at the Naveena Textiles factory on Raiwind Road were released on bail on Friday.

After hearing arguments from lawyers of the accused, presiding magistrate Asha Tariq bailed out Azim Shah and Muhammad Ilyas of the All-Pakistan Trade Union Federation, non-unionised labourer Muhammad Bilal, and Taimur Rahman, Ali Jan and Rafaqat Azad, activists of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party.

Asad Jamal, one of their lawyers, said: “We presented brief arguments which were not contested by police. The whole story contained in the FIR is frivolous.”

He said the four charges brought against the men were: burning tyres, assaulting a police officer, raising anti-government slogans and possession of a deadly weapon.

The counsel said the police had neither revealed the name of the alleged weapon nor produced it. While a medical report of the arrested constable, Muhammad Mehran of Tipu Company, was also not produced.

On Thursday, he said that Saddar division SP Faisal Ali Raja had identified the injured as constable Ishfaq.

Accused Taimur Rehman termed the allegations against him and the other accused baseless, adding: “The dispute between workers and factory owners had already been resolved as the owners had agreed to pay the workers minimum wage.

We had begun to disperse, when the police fired warning shots. Almost 200 people ran, those who were unlucky were caught in a baton charge and brutally beaten.”

He added: “It is interesting to note that although the charges against us were brought by police, it was lawyers acting on behalf of factory owners who later argued for new charges against Azim Shah.”

He said he and the other detainees had been allowed home last night to sleep in their own beds, but were led away in the morning in handcuffs and chains, despite full cooperation, in order to humiliate them.

Asad Jamal said in cases such as these, FIRS were left pending while investigations were halted, as a form of threat that gave the police “an excuse to harass them in future”. He said he would work to have the FIRs removed.

Saddar Division SP (Investigation) Sarfraz Falqi was unavailable for comment.