LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi gave ‘free hand’ to police if they were ‘attacked’ again and announced formation of Joint Investigation Team on chaos that ensued at Zaman Park last week.

Holding press conference here, he said provincial government decided to send all details of incident to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Naqvi added that it is important to convey that state and governance exist in province. “Two days ago operation was done to clear road because they [PTI] cannot keep the roads closed permanently,” he added.

He furthered that police and Rangers had “Reached gate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan’s house but were called back twice because government did not want any bloodshed”. Naqvi stated that an elite force vehicle was stopped and thrown into canal. “If police vehicle is thrown into canal, then writ of state does not exist, but now writ of government will be established and hands moving towards police will be broken,” he warned. He said that Inspector General has been given full authority to take appropriate steps, adding that tenure of Rangers has also been extended.

He said that whatever happened during Zaman Park operation was not done by political workers, adding “Everyone knows who they were”. While showing video of “Torture of police by PTI workers”, Naqvi said that it is not possible for police to work and take beating at same time. Caretaker CM announced compensation package for injured policemen. He said that caretaker government has decided to give Rs 0.1 million to lightly injured policemen and Rs 0.5 million to those who suffered severe injuries.

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 21 2023

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