SUKKUR: Intelligence personnel in civilian clothes ‘raided’ a police station here on Monday and got a suspect freed from lock-up. When journalists reached there, they had to face the wrath of the personnel who hit them with rifle buts, injuring several of them. Photographer Ibrahim Suhryani suffered serious injuries and landed in the intensive care unit of the civil hospital.

Sukkur Press Club President Lala Asad Pathan and General Secretary Mumtaz Bokhari have sent emails and letters to Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the director general of the Military Intelligence to take action against the men involved.

Mr Pathan told journalists at a meeting that they had requested the deputy inspector general of Sukkur police to ensure registration of an FIR against the personnel.

He warned of moving court if the FIR was not registered in 24 hours.

He said the media men were thrashed when they reached the A-Section police station which had been ‘raided’ by the personnel to free Aleemuddin Malik, who had been arrested on Sunday in a land-grabbing case on a complaint lodged by some residents of Barrage Colony. He was accused of having occupied a plot in the colony near the MI office, starting illegal construction on it and threatening the neighbours with dire consequences if they complained against them.

On Monday morning, police said, around 15 personnel who came in two jeeps cordoned off the police station, thrashed police officials, broke the lock of the lock-up and took away Aleemuddin, SHO Mumtaz Mughal, the head writer and two constables with them.

Later in the evening, the SHO and the policemen returned to the police station after they had been set at liberty by the personnel.

ASP of City Abdul Rahim Sheerazi and his guards were also thrashed when they tried to intervene.

Meanwhile, a team of media personnel reached there and cameramen of private TV channels started recording the mayhem, prompting a strong reaction from the agency officials.

The reporters and cameramen held a sit-in in front of the agency vehicle and called their leaders through phone calls.

A delegation of the journalists headed by Mr Pathan and Mr Bokhari and accompanied by ASP Sheerazi met Col Anwar Alam and Maj Riaz of the MI in their office to apprise them of the incident and demand departmental action against people involved in it.

After the meeting, according to Mr Pathan, the MI officials apologised for the attitude of their subordinates and promised to compensate the losses suffered by cameramen.