At least 300 supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have been booked under the anti-terrorism law by the Lahore police for attacking Nawankot police station and taking 11 policemen hostage for almost 24 hours.
The first information report (FIR) registered at the Nawankot police station stated that the protesters gathered outside the building on Sunday and began chanting slogans against the government. According to the FIR, the TLP workers damaged motorcycles parked on the police station’s premises and threw petrol bombs and stones at the police officials.
They also beat up the DSP who tried to negotiate with the protesters, the FIR alleged. It further said that the rioters damaged furniture, broke windows after they stormed the station.
The men named in the FIR include Anas Rizvi, Syed Zaheerul Hassan, Tariq Japani, Aijaz, Mahar Qasim, Qari Farooq, Maulana Ghulam Abbas, Mufti Abid Raza Qadri, Hafiz Usman Shah, Ali Awan, Sajjad, Shahid, Zahid, Talha Dogar, Sufi Faiz Rasool, Malik Kashif, Sajid Arif, Ghulam Murtaza, Javed Mughal, and Ali Arsalan.
The FIR has been registered against Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act; Section 365 — kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person; Section 324 — attempt to commit qatl-e-amd; Section 353 — assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty; Section 452 — house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint; Section 427 — mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees; Section 186 — obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions; Section 147 — punishment for rioting; Section 148 — rioting, armed with deadly weapon; Section 149 — every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object; Section 436 — mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house; Section 290 — punishment for public nuisance in cases not otherwise provided for; Section 291 — continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue; Section 379 — punishment for theft; Section 09 — punishment of abetment if the Act abetted committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment.
On Sunday, TLP supporters ransacked a police station in Lahore and abducted at least 11 policemen along with a DSP. The hostages were released after talks with the protesters and the government also agreed to stop the crackdown on the TLP for the time being.
The TLP has been staging a sit-in near Yateem Khana area of Lahore.
