Sialkot district police chief detained

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is reported to have requested Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to suspend Mr Chohan for being responsible for the incident. – AP Photo

LAHORE: Sialkot’s District Police Officer Waqar Ahmad Chohan was detained for 30 days on Sunday in connection with the lynching of two brothers by a mob.

According to an executive order issued by the Sialkot District Coordination Officer, Mr Chohan would be
detained by police and kept in police custody for 30.

A senior provincial government official, privy to the development, told Dawn that movements of Mr Chohan, who is living in his official residence in Sialkot, were being monitored by officials in plainclothes and his activities would be watched till the conclusion of two high-level inquires being held by the director general of anti-corruption and a senior police officer.

He said the step had been taken to prevent him from escape in case inquiries found him guilty.

He said the DPO could not be arrested unless sufficient evidence about his involvement was produced.

Citing some reports and witnesses’ accounts, the official said that the former DPO was at the place where two youngsters were clubbed to death after the suspects had declared them robbers. The official said that a probe committee headed by Punjab CID Mushtaq Sokhaira would submit its report within a week.

The official criticised the Gujranwala Regional Police Officer for introducing a culture of violence -- killing criminals in encounters and parading their bodies in public – which had pushed people to take law into their own hands.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is reported to have requested Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to suspend Mr Chohan for being responsible for the incident.

There are reports that the provincial chief secretary has written to the federal secretary establishment for Mr Chohan’s suspension.

Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, when contacted, said all the people, the administration personnel and locals who were directly or indirectly involved in the incident, would be brought to justice.

Some TV channels reported on Sunday night that the federal government had suspended Mr Chohan.—Faisal Ali