LAHORE: The Gulberg police on Wednesday registered a “report” against some army officers for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a police inspector at the Qaddafi Stadium in the late hours of Tuesday evening.

A senior police official said it was not a criminal case, but a “report” that was lodged on the complaint of Gulshan-i-Iqbal Station House Officer Dilawar Hussain to bring it on police record. He said a high-level inquiry was being conducted on the incident and further decision would be taken in the light of the findings.

In the “report”, SHO Hussain said that he was discharging his duty at Gate No 14 of Qaddafi Stadium for Pak-Australia cricket match on Tuesday when an army officer came up there along with a child to take him into the stadium ‘without ticket’.

The SHO claimed that he suggested the man to take the boy to the long queue where several other youngsters had lined up before making entry, but the army officer ‘misbehaved’ and ‘snatched his mobile phone’.

A few minutes later, he returned with some armed personnel of the army and held up him at gunpoint. Sensing the gravity of the situation, two police officers reached there to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, the SHO said, another army officer also arrived there for the support of his colleague and ‘ordered’ army personnel to kidnap him (SHO Hussain) and take him to a ‘unit’.

They turned down repeated requests of the police officers who also changed his (SHO) duty and deployed him inside the stadium to avoid further confrontation between the army and police personnel, he said.

Nearly 15 to 20 troops, armed with weapons, came there again after some time, ‘kidnapped’ him and subjected him to torture in the presence of the senior army officers, he said.

However, SHO Hussain said, another senior army officer and a police officer later came and rescued him.

During the entire episode, the emergency and evacuation gate reserved for the Australian cricket team remained closed, causing a grave security risk, the SHO said.

A video clip showing the troops thrashing Gulshan-i-Iqbal SHO Hussain also went viral on social media.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2022