ISLAMABAD: Two policemen were beaten by traders when they tried to arrest a suspected drug peddler on Monday, police said.

The policemen recovered charas from a man who told them that he bought it from a quilt shop at I-10 Markaz. The policemen took him to the shop and asked the owner to accompany them to the police station. When he refused, the policemen tried to forcibly put him in their vehicle.

In the meantime, his four sons and other traders reached the spot and got the shopkeeper and the man from whom the narcotics was recovered free, and also beat up the policemen.

When contacted, I-10 Markaz traders’ union president Kashif Chaudhry said the traders did not beat any policeman. He said two persons in civvies came to I-10 Markaz and tried to arrest a student who was helping his father at his shop.

He claimed that the police also opened an indiscriminate fire during which one of the officials suffered a bullet injury. When asked why the police had come to the market, he said, “put this question to the police”.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2015

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