Police use tear gas to break up PTI protest, make arrests

PTI claims one party worker ‘tortured to death by police’ after being taken into custody n Spokesman says 11 police among dozens injured during hours long clashes n Stick-wielding protesters pelted police with stones as Zaman Park becomes battlefield.

LAHORE    -    Following hours of fierce clashes between the police and the PTI workers which left one protester dead and many injured including policemen, party chief Imran Khan called off the election rally ac­cusing the incumbent government of plan­ning to create chaos to escape elections. 

“Stop everything. We are not taking out the rally that we were sup­posed to as.. I am sad­dened to say… that all the moves the govern­ment is making are aimed at running away from elections,” he said in a tele­vised addressed to his sup­porters as he lashed out at the provincial police for its alleged brutality and asked the par­ty workers to return to their homes peacefully. 

Following the sudden imposi­tion of section 144 in the whole of Lahore district by the Punjab interim government, the Pun­jab Police restrained PTI work­ers from reaching the PTI chief’s residence by blocking the routes leading towards Zaman Park here on Wednesday. 

According to A PTI, one party worker Ali Bilal alias Zille Shah lost his life allegedly due to po­lice baton charge and shelling while several got serious inju­ries. The PTI claimed that po­lice arrested 150 party work­ers and locked them at different police stations. The PTI leaders alleged that police took Ali Bi­lal in custody from Zaman Park and tortured him to death. The police not only tortured female activists, but also fired expired tear gas shells on peaceful par­ty workers, they alleged. 

The areas around Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan became a battlefield as police used tear gas shells and wa­ter cannons to prevent PTI ac­tivists from assembling at the Khan’s residence from where the PTI chief was scheduled to lead the rally. 

Citing the current security sit­uation, the provincial home de­partment on Wednesday im­posed a complete ban on all kinds of processions, rallies and sit-ins in Lahore for a period of seven days. A day earlier, the PTI was given a route and per­mission to hold the rally. How­ever, in a late night development a letter was issued by the feder­al interior ministry on Tuesday in which the fear of possible ter­rorist attack in the rallies and protest was expressed.

Despite the imposition of sec­tion 144, scores of PTI activists and workers including women marched towards Khan’s resi­dence to participate in the ral­ly. Before the arrival of PTI lead­ers and workers, the police had already put the arrangements in place to prevent PTI work­ers from reaching Imran Khan’s residence at Zaman Park. 

All the roads leading to Zaman Park were sealed by the po­lice with containers. The con­tainers were placed on the Mall Road and on the road leading to Zaman Park from the other side of the canal, while the road lead­ing from Dharampura to Zaman Park was also completely sealed with containers. 

An altercation and scuf­fle broke out between the PTI workers and the police after the police officials barred the PTI workers from reaching Imran Khan’s residence. Po­lice used water cannons, tear gas and batons to disperse the workers. A great volume of PTI activists were detained by the officials who tried to sneak through the containers to reach Imran’s residence. In an effort to disperse the PTI workers, the police smashed the windscreen of their cars. There were also reports that police officials snatched the mobile phones and other elec­tronic devices of the protes­tors while detaining them. A protester was also heard com­plaining that police took his belongings including cash. 

The use of shelling and wa­ter cannon by the police con­tinued throughout the day to disperse the crowd. Besides, po­lice also hit the participants of the demonstration with batons causing as many sustained head injuries. PTI workers were seen using canal water to neutralize the effect of tear gas and shell­ing. They also set on fire the dry branches of trees, leaves and shrubs at certain places to ward off the poisonous smoke. 

In response to this bru­tal police violence, PTI work­ers pelted stones on them and picked up sticks in their de­fense. The PTI workers vowed to reach their leader’s residence at any cost and chanted slogans in favor of their right to hold peaceful political activity. The police also arrested some re­porters and social media activ­ists who were covering the scuf­fle between police officials and PTI workers. However, the de­tained journalists were soon re­leased after the strong protest of fellow journalists.

Speaking to The Nation, a PTI demonstrator Ishfaq said that the PDM government had turned the country into a ba­nana republic. “What kind of democracy is this where a po­litical party can’t practice its right to hold a political activity. He alleged that the police had been directed to torture their own people. 

As the day proceeded, around 5.30 pm, the PTI workers gath­ered courage and stormed to­wards the police with sticks and stones in their hands. The charged crowd forced the po­lice to retrieve back while the PTI workers pelted sticks and stones on the fleeing police ve­hicles. Post police retrieval, the PTI workers pushed the con­tainers and cleared the way for the vehicles of the party work­ers and people stuck on the other side of the container at Mall Road.

Meanwhile, according to a police spokesperson, sever­al police officers and person­nel sustained serious injuries while maintaining law and or­der during the PTI riots. The police spokesperson claimed that 11 police personnel in­cluding two DSPs and one SHO were injured due to violence by the PTI workers. 

DSP Sabzazar, DSP Township are among those who got in­jured in the violence. SHO Han­jarwal, Constable Irfan, Na­deem, Bilal, Waqar, Abdul Sattar are among the victims. Also, constables Ali Ismat, Sikandar, and Ali Hamza are among the injured as well, said the police spokesperson. 

The condition of one serious­ly injured police personnel is critical due to brutal violence by PTI workers, he added. Also, se­nior PTI leader Ejaz Ch said that scores of the PTI workers in­cluding women who gathered for PTI’s election campaign ral­ly have been arrested, harassed and intimidated who were par­ticipating peacefully in the rally.

He said the Police resort­ed to massive tear gas shell­ing and also used water can­nons to disperse the peaceful PTI workers resulting in the death of one of the PTI work­ers. Ejaz Ch said that police offi­cials also smashed the windows of the cars of the participants of the rally to spread fear and pan­ic among the PTI workers. How­ever, they remained disciplined despite all the barbarity and brutality unleashed by the Pun­jab police, he added. 

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi Wednesday ordered an imme­diate investigation while tak­ing strict notice of the alleged death in the riot. According to the spokesman of the Punjab government, the Chief Minis­ter has ordered a complete im­partial and fact-based inquiry into the incident. CM has or­dered to take action according to law against the persons who are found involved in this mat­ter and the requirements of jus­tice under the law should be ful­filled. The spokesman of the Punjab government said that the videos shown by PTI are not of today but of old and Jail Bharu movement (Court Ar­rest Movement). A deliberate lie is being spread that this per­son was in police custody. CCTV footage revealed that the de­ceased was dropped off at Ser­vices Hospital by a private ve­hicle. The vehicle and its driver are being searched through Safe City cameras to reveal the truth while post-mortem and Safe City report will determine the exact facts. Spokesman Punjab Government said that 11 police personnel were injured today due to the violence of PTI work­ers in Zaman Park.