Workers of banned TLP 'brutally tortured' DSP, took 5 officials hostage: police official
Workers of the recently proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) "brutally tortured" a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and took him, as well as four other officials hostage on Sunday, spokesperson for Lahore CCPO Rana Arif told Dawn.com.
The clash came as police launched an operation to clear the area around Lahore's Yateem Khana Chowk, where workers of the party have been staging a protest since earlier this week.
"Workers attacked police with petrol bombs," the spokesperson said.
Arif said 11 police officials were injured after "brutal torture" by TLP workers and were under treatment at different hospitals in the city.
Meanwhile, at least three people were killed and several others, including law enforcers, injured as police launched the operation.
In a video message, a spokesperson for the banned party, Shafiq Ameeni, alleged that "forces suddenly attacked [us] at Lahore Markaz at 8am today morning in which a large number of our workers have been martyred while many are injured".
"[We] will bury [those killed] when the French ambassador exits the country and our agreement (with the government) is implemented," he added.
Meanwhile, police officials confirmed that an operation was under way at the Yateem Khana Chowk in Lahore but did not give any further details.
Videos on social media showed people carrying away the injured and tending to them. However, some users pointed out that the videos were old and were shared without context.
The TLP also shared a video of a senior official of Punjab police, who was allegedly abducted by its workers on Sunday. The injured police official, assumedly under duress, said that an operation was being carried out to clear the area outside a police station when he was "captured" by the "enraged" crowd.
He said that three people were killed and several others sustained bullet wounds, appealing for a way forward through dialogue.
The TLP was formally banned by the federal government earlier this week after its supporters staged three days of violent protests across the country, resulting in deaths and injuries to several policemen.
Violent protests
During the three days of countrywide protests, hundreds of protesters and police personnel were injured and thousands of TLP activists and supporters were arrested and booked for attacking law enforcement personnel and blocking main roads and highways in protest against the arrest of their leader Allama Saad Hussain Rizvi.
On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan also lauded the services of police for dealing with the "organised violence" perpetrated by the protesters.
In a tweet, the premier also announced that the government would look after the families of the four police personnel martyred during the violence.
"I want to pay special tribute to our police force for their heroic stand against organised violence intended to create chaos to blackmail [the] government," he wrote, noting that four policemen were martyred and more than 600 injured during the unrest.
Govt ban
On Thursday, the government had slapped a ban on the TLP. A notification declaring TLP as a proscribed organisation was issued by the Ministry of Interior shortly after the federal cabinet approved a summary to ban the party.
The notification said: "The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that the TLP is engaged in terrorism, [has] acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, [was] involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of law enforcement agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties including vehicles and caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, and has threatened, coerced, intimidated, and overawed the government [and] the public and created sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large."
Copies of the notification were sent to authorities concerned, including the secretaries of different ministries and divisions, State Bank governor, Election Commission of Pakistan secretary and director general passports.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority had also swiftly added the TLP to the list of banned terrorist organisations taking the total number of such outfits to 79.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1618944/at-least-3-killed-as-police-launch-operation-against-workers-of-banned-tlp-in-lahore
