Friday, November 16, 2007
By our correspondent
LAHORE: Forty PTI workers, including three sisters of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, were rounded up by the police from a peaceful protest demonstration against Imran’s detention at the Barkat Market, after a brutal baton-charge and thrashing by plainclothes security personnel, here on Thursday.
**Mrs. Rani Hafiz Khan, Uzma Khan and Aleema Khan, sisters of Imran, along with PTI office-bearers were proceeding towards the Punjab University new campus from the Barkat Market to protest against the detention of Imran and his manhandling by the IJT, when massive police contingents armed with batons countered them. **
PTI Lahore president Shabbir Sial and women wing president Saloni Bokhari were also present. The protestors carried banners and placards, hailing Imran and condemning the JI’s student wing. They also chanted slogans against the IJT. The PTI wanted to join a student procession in the PU against the IJT’s brutality.
Meanwhile, more than 200 policemen equipped with batons and firearms under the supervision of SP Model Town Imran Ahmar and DSP Shams appeared and intercepted them. The protestors refused to stop rallying. Police on resistance thrashed male and female protestors and shoved them into a prison van.
In the absence of lady police, male police officials thrashed and manhandled the PTI activists. The lady activists started crying and shouting at their arrest which created panic in the market.
The arrested male workers were shifted to Garden Town police station while women were first shifted to the Gulberg police station and later to the Model Town police station.
Sources in police said the Garden Town police had registered a case against 24 nominated male and female PTI workers and 10 unknown workers on the charges violation of section 144, 186 and 188 of PPC.
The arrested PTI women were identified as Uzma, Nasim Zohra, Azhar Sajjid, Salma Ejaz, Dr Uzma Asif, Rabia Khan, Sadiqa, Samia Khan, Mrs Rizwan, Munazza Hassan, Talat Naqvi, Professor Shahid Fazal.