BAHAWALNAGAR: On the orders of the district police officer (DPO), seven officials of Minchinabad police, including the station house officer (SHO), were suspended from service on Wednesday for registering a fake FIR against four persons, covering up an illegal raid during which a man was shot at and injured.

Special Branch and police sources told Dawn that a youth of Darbar Shakar Ganj village had an affair with his cousin, and he had some indecent pictures of her.

The sources say that when the girl’s family learned about the affair and the pictures, they got registered a fake FIR against the youth, his father and brothers.

However, when the youth kept contacting his cousin, her family allegedly engaged Minchinabad police SHO Rao Faisal to “teach the youth a lesson.”

For this purpose, on the complaint of the girl’s brother, Azeem Bhatti, a seven-member police team, along with some private people, conducted a raid on the house of the youths’ father, Muhammad Khan, in the wee hours of August 12.

The complainant alleged that during the raid, his father attempted to escape and was shot at and injured by the police team. He was shifted to the Minchinabad Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ).

Meanwhile, the sources say that some officials of Minchinabad police approached Muhammad Khan and his family, and asked them to file a complaint against their opponents (the girl’s family), shifting the blame of shooting him onto them, instead of the police.

Accordingly, on Aug 12, Khan lodged an FIR against four people, including two of his relatives, without mentioning the police raid and firing.

However, after the matter surfaced on social media and the Bahawalnagar District Police Officer (DPO) Kamran Asghar inquired into the matter.

He also got reports from intelligence agencies about the facts of the case, which proved that the police had conducted an illegal raid and injured Muhammad Khan with an official weapon.

After this, on the orders of the DPO, seven policemen involved in the raid, including Minchinabad SHO and Muharrar, were immediately removed from the police station.

A police spokesperson, Zahid Rasool, said that staffers of Minchinabad police station, including SHO Rao Faisal, ASIs Tasleem Nawaz, Akhtar Saleem and Ghazi Yunas Raza, besides constables Naeem, Amir and Sabir Ali, have been suspended from service and charge-sheeted for conducting the illegal raid and shooting a man, adding that a departmental inquiry has also been initiated against these police officials.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2025