Soft policing: Applicant dies waiting for SP

LAHORE: Claims of city police about ‘soft policing’ were exposed on Thursday when an applicant died due to a heart attack outside the office of the superintendent of police (SP) Cantt division. Police sources claimed that the lower staff of the SP office created hurdles for the deceased to meet the SP. On the contrary, Aamer Zulfiqar, Operations senior superintendent of police, said that he himself conducted an inquiry on the matter and no officer stopped the deceased from meeting the SP. Sources claimed that Akbar Hayat, a resident of 97/A J-Block Model Town, was running a business and a few months ago he sold a consignment to a Karachi-based trader, Abdul Aziz Memon. Memon gave him a cheque of a local bank situated at Davis Road which bounced. Hayat demanded his money from Memon who refused to pay him. Hayat tried to register a case against Memon but the officials of the Race Course police station and Qila Gujjar Singh refused to register a case and asked him to submit an application to the SP Cantt for the registration of a case. Hayat went to SP Cantt’s office several times but could not meet him. On Thursday he again went to SP Cant’s office where the staff stopped him from meeting the SP as he was in a meeting. After around two hours Hayat again tried but the staff gave him the same answer. Hayat sat on a bench outside the office when suddenly he fell unconscious. The Mughalpura station house officer (SHO), who was present there, took Hayat to Ganga Ram Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. shahnawaz khan

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