LAHORE Disgruntled engineers of the Pakistan Railways on Saturday called off their strike as the Rail Chief assured them that he would ask the Federal Law Department whether the Railways Police could arrest and interrogate engineers or not, The Nation has learnt. Hundreds of railways engineers went on a pen-down strike across the country shortly after the Railways Police arrested three rail engineers in connection with a theft case without getting approval of the Railways General Manager. The police claim they can arrest and interrogate anybody but the engineers are of the view that the police are not allowed to act on their own and need approval of the higher authorities according the Railways Act. A delegation of engineers met Pakistan Railways Chairman Shahid Hassan Raja here on Saturday and assured the protesting engineers the matter would be referred to the Law Department to get legal opinion on the role the Railways Police. He asked the engineers representatives to prepare a summary of the issue within a week to be forwarded to the federal authorities to avoid further estrangement. The engineers pointed the finger at the performance of the Railways Police, saying the government wastes Rs 1.5 billion annually on inept rail cops. They said the rail cops didnt have the authority to initiate such probes without higher authorities approval. Railways General Manager Ishfaq Khattak said the Inspector General Railways Police was answerable to him. He was of the view that the theft case against engineers was in court and the police could only act according to the FIR. He hoped the issue will be resolved amicably. The Inspector General Pakistan Railways didnt take phone calls to offer comments on the situation.