BAHAWALPUR: On the direction of a district and sessions judge, a wine merchant has filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to register a case against seven police officials for implicating him in a fake case and taking action against him in violation of the law.

Raju Mahaishwari, owner of the United Wine Merchant, Karachi, filed the complaint with the ACE Bahawalpur director to register an FIR against seven police officials of Musafirkhana police station, including Sub-Inspector Meraj Muhammad, ASIs Shah Zain, Muhammad Aslam, and four constables Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Amjad, Muhammad Fayyaz and Ghulam Mustafa.

District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Rashid Qamar, during the hearing of the case, had found the police officials guilty and directed petitioner Raju Mahaishwari to approach the ACE for the registration of a case against them.

According to the orders of the judge, the police officials had illegally registered a case against Raju, kept his three employees in illegal confinement for six weeks, got arranged a press conference by the former district police officer for obtaining Rs100,000 cash prize from the inspector general of Punjab police despite the direction issued by the Lahore High Court’s Bahawalpur bench.

The police officials, on Feb 14, had intercepted Mahaishwari’s truck laden with 16,800 wine bottles, purchased under a valid permit of the Excise and Taxation Department from Rawalpindi and arrested his three employees.

Besides, when the alcohol was returned to Mahaishwari on court orders, there was a shortage of 164 bottles.

PROTEST: The Bahawalpur Union of Journalists, with collaboration of All Pakistan of Clerks Association, held a protest to condemn attack on journalist Hamid Mir.