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JHANG, July 4: The Jhang Union of Journalists and office-bearers of the local press club have strongly condemned the “high-handedness” of police towards newsmen.
In a meeting with district police officer Khadim Hussain Bhatti, they urged him to take stern action against the SHOs of the Kotwali and Massan police stations for humiliating journalists, arresting them without any criminal case and implicating them in fake cases, in an attempt to make them refrain from criticising police for its wrongdoings.
A delegation of the press club and JUOJ called on the DPO and informed him about the incidents of police excesses against journalists during the last fortnight.
In the first incident, Massan SHO Rana Rustam Ali included the names of this correspondent and his cousin, Capt Imran Raza (retired) in a tractor fraud case, apparently, without even taking the complainant of the case into confidence, to teach the reporter a lesson for having the audacity of filing reports against Massan police and a senior former officer of Jhang police.
The correspondent got the investigation transferred to the SDPO Saddar, who declared the two innocent after the complainant of the case denied having mentioned their names in his application as accused, and blamed the SHO for having included their names in the FIR without his knowledge.
The same SHO, after a few days, booked another local correspondent Naveed Sadhana, in a case under section 16 of maintenance of public order for “nasty” reporting.
The case was also cancelled by the SDPO after finding the reporter not guilty. Both the matters were brought to the knowledge of the former DPO, Jhang, who did not take any action against the SHO.
In a recent happening, the bureau chief on Urdu daily, Khurram Saeed, “notorious” for criticising police, was put into the lockup by the Kotwali SHO. Khurram had gone to the Kotwali as an arbitrator between two brothers in a case.
The SHO, on the pretext of taking preventive measures under sections 107\151, arrested the parties and people accompanying them, including Khurram Saeed.
The DPO assured the delegation of taking action against the police officials after holding an inquiry.
DOUBLE MURDER: A youth shot dead his wife and sister-in-law over a petty matter in a village near Bhowana, Chiniot tehsil, 60km from here, on Thursday.
The accused, Mohd Hayat of Jamia Mohamdi Sharif, was married to Sahib Bibi of Lodhra village. Some days ago, Faiz Bibi, the sister of Sahib, started living with the couple in their house.
On Thursday, Faiz insisted on taking her sister to a marriage party in their family (Hayat’s in laws). The accused, who had strained relations with his in-laws, objected to it. The argument provoked the accused to an extent that he took out his gun and shot at the ladies, killing them on the spot.
