Law and order: FIR registered against 220 Sunni Tehreek men

Police said cases were also registered against 10 women who had joined the protestors to press their demand for the release of 25 PST workers.

Station House Officer Muhammad Afzal Lali told the media that Sandal Bar police had arrested 25 people on Saturday for “forcibly occupying a piece of land adjacent to a mosque in Chak 31-JB.”

He said following the arrests, dozens of PST workers including some women had attacked the Sandal Bar police station.

The SHO said the protestors had damaged the station. “Some of the protestors, fired shots in the air,” he said.

“They virtually took over the police station for more than four hours,” he said.

The protestors later staged a sit-in in front of the city district government secretariat and at Zila Council Chowk. It ended after they were assured that clerics would be consulted to resolve the matter.

Operations SSP Ghulam Mubashar Mekan said strict action would be taken against those who had taken law into their hands.

‘Police patronising drug peddlers’

Dozens of residents of Tandlianwala staged a protest demonstration on Sunday alleging that the police were not arresting drug peddlers in the area.

Some of the protestors accused the police of patronising those involved in drug trade.

Muhammad Jameel, one of the protestors, told the media that the addicts had a meeting place in Chak 409-GB. He said the police knew about it but did not arrest those responsible for running the place.

Khadim Ali, a village elder, said the drugs were being sold openly.

The demonstrators demanded immediate arrest of the drug sellers and action against the police officials involved.

The Tandlianwala Saddar SHO told The Express Tribune that the police had not received a drug trade complaint from the men.

He said he had assured the protestors that those involved in the drug trade would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2013.