LAHORE: The Kot Lakhpat police have registered an FIR against a police constable who allegedly looted a man at a picket, opened indiscriminate fire and tortured his brother, relatives and other residents of the neighbourhood when they came to rescue the victim.

Identified as Mohammad Aslam, the constable posted at Factory Area police station is a habitual offender as some five other complaints filed by different persons against him are pending with the Kot Lakhpat and other police stations, for resorting to violence and criminal acts in police uniform.

According to the FIR lodged by Sheikh Amir, a resident of Hamdani Park, Chungi Amar Sidhu, constable Aslam, who resided in the same locality, intercepted his younger brother Sheikh Nadeem at a picket in a deserted street late in the night and snatched Rs30,000 from him during body search.

The complainant said when his brother informed him about the incident, he approached the police constable, along with his younger brother, and requested him to return the amount he had snatched from Nadeem at the picket.

At this, the constable got enraged, returned with his accomplices carrying clubs and attacked the complainant, leaving him seriously injured.

Meanwhile, prime suspect Aslam brought a rifle and a pistol and opened indiscriminate fire at him, his brother and their relatives who had also reached there to rescue them.

Amir said they all rushed for shelter, while the constable chased them and continued firing with an intention to kill them.

However, they escaped unhurt, while the constable fled the scene when other residents of the locality gathered there.

Amir said his relatives shifted him to hospital with multiple injuries.

The complainant said that the constable often resorts to violence and has become a symbol of terror in the locality.

He urged Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana and other senior police officers to take notice of the highhandedness of the constable, hold a departmental inquiry against him and sack him for misusing the authority and bringing a bad name to the department.

Police sources say that Aslam and another suspect have secured pre-arrest bails, while one of their accomplices has been arrested.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024