MULTAN, Feb 18: Some 38 people, including 13 policemen, were injured in a clash between police and villagers in Basti Bangalwala near Qadirpur Raan, some 20km from here, on Monday morning.

Seven policemen trespassed into the house of one Ishfaq on Monday morning. Ishfaq along with other villagers held the policemen hostage considering them dacoits and gave them a severe thrashing. They took them as dacoits because a gang in uniform had been active in the area for the last four months.

On receiving information, CIA SP Javed Shah reached the spot along with a heavy contingent of police. He negotiated with the villagers to get released police officials, but to no avail as they insisted that they (policemen) were the culprits who were involved in dacoities in the area.

They said the officials would be released after an assurance by the district Nazim that a punitive action would be taken against them.

Upon it, the SP ordered the policemen to get released the officials. The police entered the houses of villagers and tortured them. They also opened fire leaving a passer-by, Muhammad Sharif, seriously injured. Later, the police succeeded in getting released all the officials.

The condition of Sharif was stated to be critical at the Nishtar Hospital.

The villagers injured during the clash are Muhammad Ali, Omar, Zafar Ali, Manzoor, Ali Nawaz, Gulzar, Nazar Muhammad, Saddiq, Ali Bahadur, Sarfraz Ali, Mushtaq Karam, Rab Nawaz, Fiaz, Hanif, Sardar Ali and Mushtaq Husain.

The injured policemen are Qadirpur Raan SHO Nasrullah Warraich, Sub-Inspector Muhammad Sadiq, ASIs Muhammad Ashraf and Zia Akhtar and constables Khursheed Ahmad, Iqbal, Munir Ahmad, Matloob Baig, Ijaz Husain, Allah Ditta, Rajab Ali, Anwar and Faqeer Husain.

Police claimed Ishfaq held hostage an ASI and three constables when they came there to arrest a proclaimed offender, Qasim. They said these officials were also subjected to torture by the villagers. They said when the CIA SP asked the villagers to release the policemen, they threw stones on the police, injuring some of them. The police retaliated and got released the hostages after arresting some 40 villagers.

When contacted, area Nazim Malik Arshad said the villagers wanted to release the officials in the presence of the district Nazim. But to get freed their colleagues, the police used tear-gas. Even some old people were tortured and arrested, he said.

He alleged that the police ransacked about seven houses and severely beat up women, injuring some of them seriously. He further alleged that injured Zarina Bibi, Asia, Ghulam Fatima, Kaneeza, Ruqaia, Shameem, Niamat Mai and Hashmat Bibi were neither being admitted to hospital nor being issued medico-legal certificates.

He said the man whom the police wanted to arrest did not belong to the village.

The police registered a case against villagers under sections 382, 365, 324, 186, 353, 148 and 149.