The police claimed to have arrested 21 more suspects linked to the Rawalpindi tragedy from different localities of the city. A police team arrested the suspects with the help of footage collected from different sources.
Some of the suspects included Nadeem Shah, Amir Abbas, Syed Ziaur Raza, Ghulam Tauqir, Asif Shah, Syed Qalb Abbas, Khurram Mukhtar, Syed Atif Hussain, Syed Fawad Hussain, Zishan Haider, Imran Hussain, Mudassir Abbas, Faizan Ali, Malik Mazhar Hussain, Mohsin Ali, Malik Qamar Abbas, Junaid and Ifzal Haider. Three policemen identified as Shafqat Hussain, Amjid Ali Shah (both Islamabad police) and Fiaz Shah of Rawalpindi police were also arrested. Earlier, a local court sent 14 suspects of the Raja Bazaar mayhem on judicial remand jail after their identification parade.
Meanwhile, relatives of the arrested persons under the banner of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan held a demonstration outside the National Press Club. The demonstrators including women and children, while carrying banners and placards chanted slogans against the Rawalpindi administration and police. The protesters said that ‘innocent’ people were being arrested by the police as scapegoat.
While addressing the protestors, MWMP Punjab leader Maulana Ali Sher Ansari said that they condemn the Rawalpindi incident and the culprits should be brought to justice. He alleged that the police have made mass arrests of Shia youths with out any proof.
They said the government should also arrest those who threw stones at the procession on 10th of Ashura.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2013.