FAISALABAD: The police on Tuesday submitted the challan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA Rana Shoaib Idrees to the Anti-Terrorism Court after declaring him guilty of attacking the police station and thrashing officials in Khurrianwala.

The MPA alleged the police had submitted the challan without making him part of the investigation and affording him an opportunity of cross-questioning along with the applicant or ‘victimised’ policemen.

Know more: Record of case against MPA ‘goes missing’

Appearing in the court of ATC judge Ishtiaq Ahmad, the MPA expressed his distrust of the police investigation and demanded that it be changed.

The judge fixed Sept 4 (Thursday) as next date of hearing, also extending the pre-arrest bail the MPA had obtained.

Sources told Dawn that the police argued in court that the MPA had been found guilty of manhandling policemen and ransacking the police station.

They said the accused in his statement submitted to the Khurrianwala police stated that he had nothing to do with the attack on the police and that the latter had called him out on the troubled spot to pacify the people protesting against them.

A police officer told Dawn that the MPA had concocted a story and there was no doubt about his storming the police station. He said the torture victim, Riasat, had identified the MPA and a few others who beat him up on July 19. He said the MPA had tried his best to convince Riasat to withdraw his statement but to no avail.

He claimed that Riasat lived in Sheikhupura and a former MPA of his area had also visited his house to ask him to withdraw his application submitted against Rana Shoaib. The MPA, he said, was employing delaying tactics only to gain time and get his bail confirmed and make Riasat retract his version.

Accused Rana Shoaib told Dawn that the police, while appearing in court, had blamed him for influencing them to favour him instead of dealing with the case on merit. He said it was the right of an accused to have information about the charges that had been brought against him but the police were reluctant to provide him the charge-sheet.

The police, he said, lacked evidence against him and were bent on teaching him a lesson. Inspector Asghar, the investigation officer, could not conduct fair investigation as he had been serving under Khurrianwala police station SHO Khalid Pervez who is applicant of the case, he said.

On July 19 last, the MPA and more than 50 of his accomplices attacked the Khurrianwala police station, thrashed policemen including sub-inspector Riasat Ali and got released three people the police had arrested on the allegation of sheltering proclaimed offenders.

A case under sections 7-ATA and 148, 149, 186, 224, 225, 440 and 553 of PPC had been registered with the Khurrianwala police against the MPA and dozens of his supporters.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2014