LAHORE: Posts that have been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter contain video and photographs they claim show a police officer who was murdered for speaking out about police corruption after a deadly counter-terrorism raid in Sahiwal city in eastern Punjab. The claims are false; the images have no connection to the Sahiwal raid, and the police officer has not been killed.
The Facebook posts, for example, this one which has been viewed 13,000 times since it was posted January 25, 2018, combine a video of a policeman speaking about alleged corruption in Sahiwal with a video of a dead body, and claim the policeman has been killed.
The unidentified policeman in the video is saying in Punjabi: “Mr Chief Minister, Inspector General Punjab and all law enforcement agencies. My life is in danger because of evidence I have against DPO (District Police Officer) Sahiwal.”
The second video then shows a dead body lying in a pool of blood.
The Facebook post’s caption says: “Shocking!! This is the Justice system in Pakistan. A policeman, who had publically claimed to have evidence against the officials & was fearful about his life, is brutally murdered. Hope New CJP take notice #JusticeAsifSaeedKhosa.”
The hashtag refers to Pakistan’s Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.
The video was also shared on Twitter here where it has been viewed 42,000 times since it was posted January 25, 2019.
Here is another similar post, which contains still images taken from the same two videos, and has been shared 322 times since it was posted January 25, 2019.
The post’s caption says: “The policeman who witnessed the Sahiwal tragedy is also murdered.”
The post is referring to a January 19, 2019, incident in which four people were killed by counter-terrorism police in Sahiwal.
Here is a report by Pakistani state media on the raid, which the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan also tweeted about here.
While the CTD has done a great job in fight against terrorism, everyone must be accountable before the law. As soon as JIT report comes, swift action will be taken. The govt’s priority is protection of all its citizens. https://t.co/Vek2YHLmKQ
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 20, 2019
The policeman speaking in the video and seen in the photograph in the misleading Facebook posts is Naveed Alam, an-ex constable from Sahiwal.
The footage of him speaking about corruption was originally shared here on the Facebook page of Shakarghar24 — a local news website — on February 20, 2018, where it has been viewed more than three million times.
Alam also shared the footage on his Facebook page on February 25, 2018.
After the misleading posts linking Alam’s anti-corruption video to the Sahiwal incident began circulating on social media, for example on YouTube here and here on January 21, and on Facebook on January 22 here, Alam posted a statement on his Facebook page.
“I am Naveed Alam constable speaking from Sahiwal. I had raised my voice against the corrupt clerk mafia of DPO Sahiwal office and uploaded videos about their corruption,” he says in the January 24, 2019 post.
“I request those people who are linking my videos and photos… with the Sahiwal incident that they should refrain from it otherwise I will proceed against them under cybercrime (law). Please do not misuse my videos.”
Sahiwal police tweeted on January 22, 2019, that the footage of Alam was not linked to the January 19 raid.
“This video is about one year old. Constable Naveed Alam was dismissed from police. He runs a fruit stall at Mission Chowk Sahiwal. It is highly regrettable to deliberately link the old news with current DPO Sahiwal Captain (retired) Mohammad Ali Zia.”
ڈی پی او ساہیوال کے خلاف پولیس والے کا ویڈیو بیان
پولیس کانسٹیبل نے کہا کہ ڈی پی او ساہیوال میرے گھر پر ریڈ کروا رہا
مجھے نقصان پہنچا سکتا ہے
میری فریاد کو سنا جائے@HamidMirPAK @GulBukhari @murtazasolangi @MubashirZaidi @BushraGohar @a_siab @ShireenMazari1 @ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/ihDoGw2VnD— Rab Nawaz Baloch (@RabNBaloch) January 21, 2019
According to a reverse image search, the second video used in the misleading Facebook posts, which shows a dead body in a pool of blood, actually is of another January 21, 2019 incident in the nearby town of Pakpattan.
The exact same footage can be seen in this YouTube video posted January 21 with a headline saying: “Pakpattan kachari incident. Abrahim Malkana and Ifraheem Malkana Murder today”.
Below is a Punjab police statement about the Pakpattan incident:
The police report says that two men and their lawyer’s assistant were killed at a court in Pakpattan district, some 49 kilometres southeast of Sahiwal, on January 21, 2019.
“Both accused were present in the chamber of their lawyer when ten to twelve persons laced with weapons came and opened fire on them. Resultantly, both accused Ibraheem and Ifraheem along with Munshi (clerk or assistant) of the lawyer Yusuf died on the spot,” the report said giving only first names.
Here is a report on the incident in the English-language daily newspaper Dawn.
In this report by AbbTakk television on the Pakpattan incident, which was posted on their official YouTube channel January 20, 2019, the dead body featured in the footage in the misleading Facebook posts can be seen from a different angle.
The spokesman for Punjab’s Chief Minister Shahbaz Gill said on Twitter that policeman Naveed Alam was alive.
“Masha Allah (what Allah wishes) constable Naveed is alive and healthy. News of his murder are baseless.”
ماشاللہ پولیس کانسٹبل نوید زندہ اور صحت مند ہے۔ اس کے قتل کی خبریں بے بنیاد ہیں pic.twitter.com/r0esgY4OvM
— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@ShabazGil) January 25, 2019
