KHANEWAL-It was probably the biggest protest in the history of Khanewal district in which as many as 2,000 people belonging to all walks of life remained in front of DPO office for more than 10 hours against the police failure to arrest the murderers of journalist Saeed Butt, a resident of Abdul Hakeem City, here the other day.

Those who participated in the protest were from trade union, chemist association, trade chamber, civil society, education, politics, journalism, and other walks of Khanewal district. They protested against the negligence of Khanewal district police officer and Abdul Hakeem City station house officer to nab the murderers of journalist Saeed Butt who was killed by two unknown culprits at his office.

According to details, about 2,000 protesters riding on 400 cars, motorbikes, and trolleys participated in the protest. They were holding banners and placards. They took out a rally from Abdul Hakim City at about 9am; they then started a march about 40km towards the DPO office, chanting slogans against the district police. The rally reached Khanewal at about 11am; the participants staged a sit-in in front of the DPO office. Almost 2,000 protesters showed their appearance in this biggest protest, and they remained in front of the DPO office for more than 10 hours. All the time, they chanted slogans against the district police. The speakers, representing different fields, demanded in their addresses that police arrest the murderers of journalist Saeed Butt, former Abdul Hakeem Press Club president, as soon as possible.

They also demanded suspension of former SHO Malik Rasool Bakhsh and Investigation Officer Rana Mujeeb. They said that 67 days had been passed but the district police were still unable to arrest the murderers. "In previous dialogues" they said, "police officials had assured us of early arrest of the criminals but they failed to fulfil their promise."

"Police were least bothered to arrest the criminals," they alleged, adding that this was the reason the criminals were still beyond the police reach. They vowed not to disperse until the DPO and the RPO came to negotiate with their 10-member committee for dialogue.

An official told the protestors that the DPO and the RPO were not available and SP and DSPs were available for dialogue, but the protesters refused to negotiate with them.

They said earlier they had held negotiations with SP and DSPs but in vain. Finally, the DPO came for a dialogue with protestors, but he was reluctant to give them assurance regarding early arrest of the culprits. As the protestors demanded the culprits' early arrest, they announced to continue the protest till acceptance of their demands. Local notables including former federal minister for transport Haji Irfan Ahmed Khan Daha, PML-N candidate for Provincial Assembly Ch Fazlur Rehman, and local PTI leader Col (r) Abid Shah Khagga, and others were also present in the protest.

After eight-hour negotiations, Khanewal DPO Rana Masoom and his team succeed to convince the protesters' representatives. The DPO suspended former SHO Malik Rasool Baksh and Investigation Officer Rana Mujeeb of Abdul Hakeem police station. He also promised to personally supervise investigations, and assured that the police would resolve the case within 10 days. The protesters ended the sit-in at 6:30pm.