ISLAMABAD: A police team beat two persons black and blue and later arrested them, sources in police said.

A police officer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that five police officials armed with sub-machine guns (SMGs) kicked and punched them, besides hitting them with the butt of their SMGs several time.

The highhandedness of the policemen caught the attention of the passersby who rushed to the spot, the officer said, adding that they also requested the policemen to arrest them if they done anything wrong instead of beating them.

The passersby also tried to save them, as the personnel showed no mercy to them, he said.

The passersby failed to save them from the clutches of the policemen, the officer said.

Later, the officials bundled them in a police mobile van and left the spot.

Someone made a video of the incident, which went viral on social media, he said, adding that later a case was registered against three policemen at Koral Police Station under PPC341, 353, 147,149 and 186 and they were formally arrested.

According to the FIR, four police officials were on patrolling on motorcycles in the area of Ghouri VIP.

They set up their picket at Sanam Chowk and signaled a car to stop over suspicion, but its driver sped the car away.

They chased the car and intercepted at Latherar Road near Khanna.

The driver of the car stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road and blocked it, the FIR said, adding that “three persons were riding in the car.”

They attacked the police and kicked and punched the personnel and as a result two policemen sustained outer and inner injuries, it said, adding that “due to rush at the spot two of them managed to escape and the other two were overpowered.”

On the other hand the viral video revealed the presence of a police mobile, not the motorcycle at the spot as mentioned in the FIR, besides five policemen instead of four as mentioned in the FIR. The viral video also revealed that the policemen chanted “Duty hay (It is duty)” while beating them.

Spokesman for the police said that the arrested people have a criminal record and arrested earlier in connection with possession of illegal arms.

The police also recovered an illegal pistol from one of them. The spokesman further said that an inquiry had been ordered over the conduct of the policemen. Further action will be taken in the light of the inquiry, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2022