LAHORE: A Railway Police team allegedly took five students into custody and tortured them for chanting an anti-government slogan during the concluding ceremony of the Pakistan Railways (PR) Inter-Divisional Athletics Championship at Garhi Shahu Stadium on Saturday.

Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique was distributing medals and shields among the winners of the annual meet when a group of participants started chanting ‘Go Nawaz go’ slogan. The minister left the stadium hurriedly while men in police uniform randomly picked up five boys, bundled them into a van and sped away.

Denying that they had taken into custody Shakeel, Ali, Fatehullah, Navaid and Aitzaz -- all studying in railways educational institutions at Karachi -- the Railway police said the boys were taken away to an undisclosed location by the Garhi Shahu police.

An officer at the Garhi Shahu police station said the railway stadium did not fall in their jurisdiction. “No official of Garhi Shahu police station was on duty at the stadium,” said the official who wished not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Railways Director-General Public Relations Najam Wali Khan later told a private TV channel that the boys were taken into custody but were released afterwards on a direction by Khwaja Saad Rafique.

Some channels reported that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself ordered that the boys be released.

One of the arrested boys told Dawn that they were nabbed on the directions of Saad Rafique by Railway Police Deputy Inspector-General Shariq Jamal.

“We were treated like criminals while being taken from the stadium to Mughalpura station of Railway police. Officials at the police station gave us a sound beating while telling that we were arrested on the orders of the minister and that DIG Shariq Jamal Sahib was coming to himself register a case against us. They continued torturing and hurling threats on us even after receiving orders for our release,” said the boy who requested anonymity.

DIG Shariq Jamal did not respond to the calls and the SMS sent to him for knowing his stance.

A railway police official later said the boys were released on the orders of the minister.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017