MULTAN/FAISALABAD/GUJRANWALA: The cases of mob justice in the wake of recent child kidnap reports are rising in Multan, Faisalabad and other areas of Punjab.

On Wednesday, a mob clashed with police on Shujabad Road when they tried to rescue four suspected kidnappers, including a woman.

Later, it turned out the people held hostage and beaten were the residents of Talagang and had come to Multan in search for their own missing child.

The mob, mostly the residents of Farooqpura Chowk, held Nasiruddin, Nisar Ahmed, Saleheen and Sanobar Mai hostage calling them kidnappers. Hearing the word ‘kidnappers’, the mob started beating them and resisted when police sought the custody of the four people. The mob blocked the main Shujabad Road for six hours demanding action against the alleged kidnappers.

Police engaged the local notables and politicians to end the road blockade. An assurance by the police that they would thoroughly interrogate the Talagang residents pacified the mob to open the road.

Police shifted the four people to Cantonment Police Station. A spokesperson for police said the incident was the result of misunderstanding, but police would thoroughly probe the matter.

Earlier, on Tuesday night people tortured a man in Kotla Abul Fateh suspecting him a child snatcher and later handed him over to Muzafarabad police.

Hours before this, a man and a woman were brutally tortured in Biliwala (in Multan) by a mob for the same allegations. Both are in hospital fighting for life. Police said both the man and the woman were mentally challenged.

Similar mob justice cases have been happening in the recent weeks in Lahore. The people were thrashed and beaten by the mobs were declared innocent by Lahore police.

In Faisalabad, mobsters tried to burn an alleged kidnapper in Madinaabad. Ghulam Mohammadabad police registered a case on Wednesday against more than 300 people, of them, 19 nominated, for trying to kill the man, later identified as Farooq.

The case registered on the complaint of Station House Officer Mohammad Adil says the mob on Tuesday tried to put Farooq on fire by dousing patrol on him when Ghulam Mohammadabad police tried to get his custody. The man was held hostage in the house of Imran in Madinaabad.

Also on Wednesday, enraged people thrashed a policeman and tore his uniform near Bawa Chak on Sargodha Road during a demonstration against the Millat Town police for not registration a kidnapping case.

Later, Millat Town police arrested six people for thrashing policeman Waseem, of Ali Town police post.

Protesters said police had not registered the kidnapping case of 18-year-old Mehboob, son of Muhammad Yaqoob. Police say the kidnapping case had been registered.

In Gujranwala, residents of Wapda Town protested against the alleged kidnapping of two minor girls. Police, however, refuted the report and said no kidnapping was reported. Protesters, led by Nasir Bhatti, insisted that Sofia (13) and Aqsa (11), both maids of Bhatti in Wapda Town, had been missing since 2pm. Police arrested Bhatti and three others.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2016