LODHRAN: A youth was killed and another was injured when the motorcycle they were riding in was hit by the Lodhran City police van here on Thursday.

The police van hit the motorcycle in front of the commerce college near Super Chowk on Thursday morning. Motorcyclists were identified as Asif (16) and Qasim (15). Of them, Asif died at the scene while Qasim was shifted to the Lodhran District Headquarters Hospital where he was stated to be stable.

Initially, the family of the deceased protested against the police and stated to reporters that the police van hit the motorcycle driven by Asif and as a result, both Asif and Qasim fell, resulting in Asif’s death. They demanded action against the police officials.

District Police Officer Malik Jameel Zafer said he suspended from service two police officials who were on duty at the time of the sad incident. He made a committee for departmental investigation into the case.

According to initial statements of the police, they tried to stop the motorcyclists but they did not stop and tried to flee and when the police chased them, the motorcycle crashed into a tree.

Sabir Baloch, father of injured Qasim, said that the police had accepted their mistake and he had forgiven them.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2019