The Adda Plot Stop on Raiwind Road turned into a battlefield on Thursday when hundreds of men from the village of Janjatay launched a massive protest against Air Force officials and Saddar Division Police over a minor clash resulting from the villagers’ cattle straying into Air Force Housing Scheme.
Villagers also threw stones at heavy contingents of Saddar Division Police and Air Force officials, following which policemen baton-charged them, injuring dozens of villagers and taking more than 50 into custody. At around 8.30pm on Thursday, security guards at Air Force Housing Scheme got into an argument with the villagers in the Raiwind Police precincts. Reportedly, over 100 soldiers reached the scene, where hundreds of villagers had gathered, soon after in order to help the security guards.
However, Air Force officials reported the situation to the police and heavy contingents led by Saddar Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Zeeshan Asghar reached the scene immediately. The villagers blocked Raiwind Road and began protesting against the law enforcement agencies. More than a dozen policemen received injuries when the villagers pelted them with stones.
Saddar Division Police fired shots in the air to disperse the infuriated crowd and the villagers immediately ran for shelter. Police then baton-charged the fleeing villagers and arrested several of them.
Humayun, a villager, told Pakistan Today that Air Force Housing Scheme was located in front of his village and the villagers routinely passed through the residential area to reach Raiwind Road. He said security guards of the society had stopped villagers from passing through the housing scheme but the villagers refused to acquiesce. He claimed that when the villagers refused to stop, the guards started teasing the women and children of the village when they passed through.
He said two days ago the Air Force Housing Scheme administration registered a trespassing case against the villagers in order to stop them, and on Thursday police simply fulfilled the orders of Air Force officials. He claimed policemen followed villagers on the streets and badly assaulted them, in response to which enraged villagers pelted them with stones. Another villager claimed that the housing scheme had been established just a few months ago whereas they had been living at the same place since the creation of Pakistan.
SP Asghar, however, told Pakistan Today he did not know many facts about the incident but the villagers had thrown stones at policemen and injured three of them.
Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said the villagers had let their cattle roam free, which had caused a road-block in Air Force Housing Scheme. He confirmed that soldiers from the army had reached the scene but said they were far less than the reported number. To a question, he said it was not in his knowledge if Punjab Police Inspector General Javed Iqbal and the Lahore corps commander had discussed the issue with each other.