SUKKUR, Jan 16: Three policemen were caught and beaten up by an angry mob after a man sustained injuries during the police team’s attempt to pick up a villager sitting in a restaurant within the remit of the Abad police station of Jacobabad district on Wednesday.
The policemen were held hostage by the mob until the Abad police got them released and sent them to the lockup.
Reports from the area suggested that a team from Balochistan led by Dera Allahyar (Jhat Pat) police station SHO Hidayatullah Kolachi travelled into the Abad police jurisdiction in a private car and reached the restaurant near Dargah Sakhi Mahar Shah. The police team tried to pick up a villager, Jehangir Panhwar alias Sardaroo, who was sitting in the restaurant, in connection with 18 cases of kidnapping for ransom, robbery and other crimes.
Sardaroo along with other people offered resistance realising that the team did not belong to the local police station and had moved into the area in a private car.
The police team after failing to disperse the angry people through peaceful means opened fire to scare them away. However, Jehangir Panhwar sustained injuries during the free-for-all and was rushed to the Civil Hospital Jacobabad in a critical condition.
The police action aggravated the situation and the mob caught three of the policemen: head constable Yakoob Solangi, and constables Ali Hassan Rind and Muhammad Hashim Brohi. The mob beat up policemen in captivity and also caused extensive damage to their vehicle.
More villagers joined them and blocked the Jacobabad section of the National Highway by staging a sit-in against the police action.Vehicular traffic on both sides of the highway remained stuck for a couple of hours before the Abad police personnel arrived at the scene and took the captive policemen in their custody and sent them to the lockup.
The violent incident spread panic and tension in Jacobabad and some other areas of the district.
Former district naib nazim Mir Changez Khan Panhwar, who is the son of former provincial minister Sardar Manzoor Khan Panhwar, and a large number of relatives of Jehangir Panhwar visited him in the hospital.
A crowd gathered around the civil hospital and raised slogans against the Balochistan police. Amid a tense situation, the hospital management tried to shift Jehangir Panhwar to Larkana for proper treatment but villagers blocked the way. Mr Changez Khan intervened and convinced them to clear the way for the ambulance as Jehangir Panhwar’s condition was serious.
After the ambulance left the hospital, villagers continued to have a heated argument with the policemen. One of the scared policemen facing a furious mob lost control over his weapon and set off a burst of his Kalashnikov. Fortunately, all the bullets hit the floor of the hospital though the gunfire sound spread a great deal of panic all around. The protesting villagers, however, shut the main gate of the hospital apparently to foil policemen’s possible attempt to flee.
The Abad police escorted the ASP City and SHO Hidayatullah Kolachi of Dera Allahyar in a police mobile van and later formally arrested the SHO, who was taken to the civil line police station. The ASP City Dera Allahyar went to the police headquarters and apprised the SSP of Jacobabad, Mohammad Younus Chandio, of the incident. The SSP ordered release of SHO Kolachi.
Meanwhile, the Jacobabad SSP has ordered an inquiry into the matter and appointed DSP Sadique Odho as the investigation officer. He was asked to submit his report ‘immediately’.
Some villagers told the media that the Balochistan police team carried out a raid on the restaurant without informing the district police authorities or the local police station. They said they fired at Jehangir Panhwar leaving him seriously wounded.
On his part, SHO Kolachi told the media that 18 cases of kidnapping for ransom, robberies and other crimes were registered against Panhwar. He claimed that the Jacobabad police were informed in advance about the raid for his arrest. He further claimed that during the resistance offered by people, the gun of a policeman went off accidentally causing injuries to the suspect.
No FIR of the police-mob clash was registered at the Abad police station till late Wednesday.
According to sources, the ASP City Dera Allahyar reached Sardar Adam Khan Panhwar village for a meeting with Sardar Manzoor Ali Khan Panhwar to settle the matter and avoid the lodging of an FIR against police.