RAWALPINDI: An FIR has been registered against the motorway police officials who opened fire on a passenger bus injuring three people in the process.

The information report against the officials involved was made on charges of attempted murder and causing damage.

The two police officials accused of firing on the bus, Sub-Inspectors Shahid Gul and Aitezaz, have not been arrested so far. But, according to the spokesman of the motorway police, Mehmood Ali Khokhar, Inspector General Amjad Javed Saleemi has suspended both sub-inspectors from duty and asked Deputy Inspector General Arbab Yawar to launch an inquiry.

Earlier on Tuesday night, the spokesman for the motorway police had issued a ‘misleading’ statement claiming that the officials had acted on a Customs’ intelligence report, which had flagged two buses for allegedly transporting contraband from Peshawar to Lahore. The spokesman said that when the police officers stopped one of the buses at the Islamabad toll plaza, they found themselves being attacked by about 20 passengers travelling in the bus.

The passengers, according to the police spokesman, had sticks and ammunition. They got out of the bus and manhandled Aitezaz, in response to which, Shahid Gul got hold of his automatic rifle to defend himself and his partner. The passengers, however, opened fire on the police officials and were hit by their own bullets in the ensuing chaos.

The police spokesman said Shahid Gul fired two rounds in the air to scare away the passengers, which got the job done as they tried to flee. The spokesman requested the Naseerabad police to register an FIR against the driver, conductor and the passengers.

Shortly afterwards, however, the police’s statement about the incident became doubtful; as witnesses came forward — including the passengers on the bus — who testified that the claims the police were making were false. Additionally, not a single non-customs duty paid item was found on the bus when it was searched — casting further doubt over the police’s narration of events.

The motorway police said that they had acted on intelligence reports of the Customs department. However, the questions then are: should the Customs officials have not checked the bus themselves? And, how did the police not just get involved, but end up firing gunshots on a passenger bus?

Fifty-year-old Gulfaraz Khan, a resident of Peshawar, was among the injured.

In his statement, he said the bus — driven by Imtiaz Khan — had just crossed the toll plaza when a motorway police vehicle started tailgating it and soon afterwards opened fire without considering the possibility that the passengers included women and children.

“Gunshots shattered the windshield of the bus. The conductor, Abdul Rehman and I got hit by bullets as well,” said the injured victim, adding that the bus driver managed to stop the vehicle at a distance.

Gulfaraz Khan — who was hit three times, in his foot and leg — said that as the bus came to a halt, the panic-stricken passengers all disembarked and tried to escape.

Speaking with Dawn, from his hospital bed, he said that neither rescue officials, nor anyone from the police department came to help him as he lay there on the road bleeding. “After I was hit, I called my nephews in Taxila. They rushed to get me and took me to the hospital in their car,” he said.

“The police did not have to fire on us. They could have just blocked our way and stopped the bus by putting up barriers,” he said, questioning why the police even opened fire on civilians.

Noorullah, the owner of the bus, told Dawn that the vehicle had 20 passengers on board and was travelling from Lahore to Peshawar.

He said that when the police tried to signal the bus to stop, it was already going at 120 kilometres an hour.

He added: “When a heavy vehicle is moving at 120km per hour, it takes time to stop. So, when the driver hit the brakes, it would naturally take a while for the vehicle to come to a stop. Without realising the consequences, the motorway police started firing, which resulted in injuries to three passengers, including a woman.”

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2018