LAHORE: Fifteen policemen, who were injured in the Charing Cross suicide attack, await compensation money which was promised by the Punjab government, but after a period of five months, not a single penny has been issued.
These 15 police officials were part of DIG Ahmed Mobin’s—who was killed in the blast—and SSP Zahid Gondal’s squad. The blast also resulted in the death of seven police officials.
Out of the 15 policemen, only eight were eligible for compensation money as the other seven did not have any medical leaving certificates. Therefore, Punjab government had announced Rs 1.95 million for the eight eligible policemen. The injured policemen include Ghulam Mustafa, Muhammad Rizwan, Saifullah, Yasir Jameel, Muhammad Naseer, Muhammad Abbas, Saleem Maseeh, and Umar Haris.
However, it has been 5 months since the blast but the injured policemen have not received any compensation from the government.
These police officials mourn the fact that despite putting their lives at stake in the line of duty, they were being treated unfairly by the police department. After becoming victims of the deadly blast we are now the victims of police bureaucracy, they added. Talking to Pakistan Today, they said we have been visiting the department for our compensation money for five months now, but to no avail; we always come back empty handed.
It is Eid now, we have to shop for our families and for that we need money. We are not begging for money, we are merely asking for what is rightfully ours, they said.
They lamented the way they were being treated by the police department; they questioned how their sacrifices were being honoured.
At least 15 people, including DIG Traffic Ahmed Mobeen, were killed and over 100 wounded in a deadly suicide bombing at Charing Cross on February 13. Lahore, for days to come, had mourned the deaths. Life is back to track now, but for these policemen, the unresponsiveness of the police department adds insult to the injury.
