KASUR: A high-level inquiry committee formed by the Punjab government to investigate allegations of authorities' inaction to check instances of child sex abuse and blackmailing by a gang in Husain Khanwala and other villages in Kasur district concluded that reports of child molestation are baseless.
Senior minister of the Punjab government, Rana Sanaullah, while talking to DawnNews, said the inquiry had concluded that no instance of child sex abuse had been reported, adding that reports to this effect surfaced after two parties involved in a land dispute registered "fake cases" against each other.
Sanaullah said almost eight years ago, incidents of child molestation and videos of such acts to blackmail families had been reported in the area, adding that cases were registered against those involved and the culprits were apprehended.
The provincial minister and PML-N stalwart insisted that the scandal had been created by rival parties who were involved in a fierce land dispute.
The inquiry, sanctioned by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, was conducted by Additional Inspector General Arif Nawaz Khan and Commissioner Lahore Division Abdullah Sunbal.
A pitched battle between police and protesters had left 25 people, including two DSPs, injured near Dolaywala village along Deepalpur Road in Kasur on Thursday.
Hundreds of people hailing from Husain Khanwala and other villages demonstrated against police for their alleged failure to smash a gang suspected of raping hundreds of children and extorting money from their parents by blackmailing them through videos.
Read: Child sex abuse case: Protesters clash with police over 'failure' to catch culprits.
Details of the child sex abuse scandal were reported by local media, with some reports saying that 280 children were molested by a gang, which also made around 400 videos of children, later using them to blackmail families and receiving money from them.
While the provincial government has now downplayed the scandal, protestors were still out on the streets in Kasur, demanding that the culprits, some of whom they say are at large, be apprehended immediately.
