KASUR - Residents of Haji Gagga locality accused Railway Police personnel of allegedly trespassing on a house of a labourer, manhandling the family members and threatening them with dire consequences on their refusal to pay them extortion here the other day.

Talking to The Nation, they said that they resided at Haji Gagga in the rear of district courts at a large piece of land owned by Pakistan Railways. They alleged that the railway police extorted thousands of rupees from each family resided at the place. "Zafar Iqbal also resides at Haji Gagga along with his wife and four children. He pays Rs10,000 to the railway police each month. But he is running short of money and can't pay money to the police anymore. They threaten to evict him and his family from the house," they said. They added that he along with his family protested against the police for blackmailing him into paying money. He threatened to commit suicide if police would continue to blackmail him. His protest was covered by media which angered the police. They revenged it by intruding into his the house, manhandling the family members and hurling abuses at them. They also threatened Zafar to implicate him in fake cases if he would not leave the house.

It stirred protest in the area. Zafar's family flanked by a large number of locals demanded Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif take notice of the police highhandedness.