PESHAWAR/RAWALPINDI - At least eight people died and dozens others injured including many policemen during countrywide clashes between police and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party following the arrest of Imran Khan. Police sources Wednesday said that more than 1,000 protesters were arrested during the crackdown.
Hundreds of angry and violent protesters of PTI on Wednesday set the notable building of Radio Pakistan Peshawar and the office of the premier national news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) on fire, totally destructing the building and the offices.
Station Director Radio Pakistan Peshawar, Tahir Hassan and employees said, hundreds of PTI workers who were protesting the arrest of their leader Imran Khan in corruption cases, entered the premises of the building after rooting out the main gate. The PTI workers entered various sections of the Radio Pakistan and looted valuable equipment before setting the rooms on fire.
Station Director Tahir Hassan said that PTI workers had also torched the replica of Chaghi Mountain in the same building the other day, adding that some of the violent protesters also resorted to massive aerial firing on the main road outside the Radio Pakistan building.
The unbridled protesters after ransacking and looting the valuable office’s equipments entered the other floors of the office and set every room on fire.
They then reached the fourth floor of the building where the APP office was situated and after stealing valuables set it on fire. During the mayhem, the APP and Radio Pakistan staffers somehow managed to save their lives from the horrible attack of the violent mob by running out of the building just to see roaring flames and thick black smoke coming out of the windows. Meanwhile another group of angry mob turned towards the vehicles’ parked into the shed and destroyed around seven to eight vehicles including of APP staffers and PBC.
The fire lit by the PTI workers gradually engulfed the whole building including the APP office and destroyed everything in its path. The mob also went to the roof of the Radio Pakistan building where all the spare equipments and furniture was stored and destroyed everything by lighting fire.
‘POLICE OFFICE SET ON FIRE IN ISLAMABAD BY PTI PROTESTERS’
The miscreants of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Wednesday set on fire the office of the Senior Superintendent of Islamabad Police, Industrial Area in the federal capital.
According to a spokesperson of Islamabad Police, the miscreants forcefully entered in the office of Senior Superintendent of the Industrial Areas and set on fire the entire record of the Police Station.
The violent protester had also blocked the traffic on Srinagar Highway from G-11 to G-14 and blocked traffic on Islamabad Expressway on Sohan as well.
The protesters attacked the children and women in private vehicles and looted goods from the trucks.
‘LAHORE DIG RIZVI INJURED IN CLASHES’
Caretaker Punjab Minister for Health Dr Javed Akram said on Wednesday that DIG Operations Lahore Ali Nasir Rizvi’s eye, injured during protest demonstrations by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists on Tuesday, was successfully treated on Wednesday.
He said this during his visit to the Services Hospital where he met the family of the DIG Operations Lahore, who was undergoing treatment at the public sector health facility. The caretaker minister also met surgeons, who performed procedure on Ali Nasir Rizvi’s eye. He said that while ensuring peace and order, Ali Rizvi’s eye was badly affected by a hit of a stone. He said that 25 policemen and two civilians had already been discharged after being provided medical aid.
The health minister said that on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, the Department of Specialised Health and Medical Education had also formed a special medical board for operation of Ali Nasir Rizvi’s eye. Professor of Ophthalmology SIMS Professor Dr Khalid Waheed, Professor of Ophthalmology Professor Dr Khawaja Mohsin Ehsan and retired Professor of Ophthalmology King Edward Medical University Professor Dr Asad Aslam Khan were included in the special medical board.
‘Stone-pelting in Sialkot’
Five cops were injured due to stone-pelting by protesters in Sialkot late at Tuesday night.
District Police Officer (DPO) Sialkot Muhammad Hassan Iqbal, along with Deputy Commissioner Sialkot Adnan Mehmood, visited hospital and met the inquired policemen.
They appreciated the policemen for performing their duties diligently, and directed the hospital staff to provide the best medical facilities to the injured.