KASUR, March 6: Chhanga Manga police on Saturday registered a case against a ruling party MNA and his seven accomplices for allegedly stealing two timber trollies, torturing a forest range officer and detaining him in illegal custody.

However, the police have sealed the FIR.

Range officer Muhammad Azam Gill told police that he was present at Chhanga Manga on the night of Feb 28 when he saw two trollies loaded with timber were being driven away by some unknown persons. He intercepted them and asked them to unload the timber, but they started thrashing him.

In the meantime, one of the accused ranged MNA Sardar Muhammad Asif Nakai, who along with his other accomplices reached the spot and started beating him as well. Later, the MNA and his seven accomplices bundled him into a car and took him to their outhouse, tortured him and then kept him in illegal custody for several hours.

On hearing information, Kasur district forest officer Muhammad Ejaz Sherazi informed the Chhanga Manga police about the incident. After taking permission from the Kasur DPO, SHO Naseer Ahmad rushed to MNA's outhouse at Wan Adhan village and recovered the abducted forest range officer. The police also recovered stolen timber from the outhouse.

The DPO told Dawn that the Nakai family and many other influential figures of the area had forced him to withdraw the case, but he refused all of them.

Meanwhile, the MNA denied the charges against him and claimed that his rivals had implicated him in a false case.

CASH SNATCHED: Six armed men snatched cash, a gold ring and a wrist watch from a man near Khuddian grain market.