Police | Pakistan

Police on Thursday blocked routes leading to the Karachi Press Club ahead of a press conference by Aurat March over the alleged “abduction” of two Baloch girls and briefly detained an activist, with organisers claiming that other members were also manhandled. Aurat March, a women’s rights group, was set to hold a press conference at 3pm over the alleged “abduction” of two Baloch girls — 15-year-old Nasreen Baloch and 24-year-old Mahjabeen Baloch. Authorities closed off roads leading to KPC ahead of the press conference, which eventually began with a delay of approximately 20 minutes as the organisers said they were “stopped by the police” at the gate of the press club. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) member Qazi Khizar said an activist named Sara was taken by the police from outside the KPC. Within a few hours, Aurat March confirmed to Dawn that she had been released. Dawn has reached out to the police for a comment on the detention. Senior journalist Dodal Chandio said in a post on Facebook that “...

The Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Thursday claimed to have arrested two suspects — linked to the outlawed Zainebiyoun Brigade — in connection with the killing of an Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) worker, as well as another sectarian killing in Karachi. The militant group Zainebiyoun Brigade was added to the list of proscribed organisations in June of last year. It has also been designated by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation since 2019. ASWJ, also an outlawed group, has seen a spate of attacks in recent times in Karachi. On October 20, an ASWJ worker was shot dead in the city’s Nangan Chowrangi area. Earlier this month, another worker was killed in a suspected targeted attack on main University Road. Speaking at a press conference today, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) CTD Azfar Mahesar said that the “counter-terror force of police and a federal intelligence agency jointly carried out an intelligence-based operation (IBO) and arrested two suspects linked with the Zaineb...

Law enforcers foiled an attack by terrorists at a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday, police said. Police said in a statement that terrorists belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — tried to attack the Baka Khel police station from a distance. However, it added, police personnel opened fire on them after detecting their movement using the “latest technology”. As a result, the statement said, the terrorists couldn’t come near the police station and fled. According to police, “residents from nearby areas also fired at the attackers” and helped law enforcers. The statement did not mention any loss of lives or property in the incident, which was earlier confirmed by Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan. He told Dawn.com that the attackers had used a hand grenade to target the police station. “Unidentified attackers threw a hand grenade toward the police station, but it fell at a distance, causing no damage,” h...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police have set up a specialised Sniper Squad to bolster counterterrorism operations in high-risk regions across the province.

The Ministry of Interior has handed over a fleet of bulletproof vehicles to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police to bolster their security capabilities in high-risk zones.

Police on Wednesday launched an operation to demolish hundreds of houses vacated by Afghans in Karachi’s Afghan Camp in the Sohrab Goth area to prevent “illegal occupation by rogue elements,” officials said. The land belongs to the Malir Development Authority (MDA). It comprises 3,117 houses, including those of 200 to 250 Pakistani families. Around 15,680 Afghan nationals were previously residing in the camp. Of them, 14,296 have returned to Afghanistan, while the remaining 1,384 are still living there and are being repatriated in phases. West Zone Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Irfan Ali Baloch told Dawn.com, “The government-owned land was spread over 200 acres, with 3,000 houses built to accommodate Afghans.” DIG Baloch further said he had written a letter to police authorities to set up a special committee comprising representatives of the city administration, police and other relevant institutions to prevent illegal occupation of the vacated government land. “It was the biggest camp of displaced Afghans w...

The Gilgit-Baltistan Police on Monday said they had arrested eight facilitators of an attack the previous day on a religious leader from the proscribed Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) near the Central Police Office (CPO). Maulana Qazi Nisar Ahmed, who is the emir of the group’s GB and Kohistan chapter, was travelling along with police guards and a driver when the convoy came under fire. Police officials said the guards retaliated immediately, injuring some of the attackers, who managed to escape with the help of accomplices. The same day, a judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court had also survived a brazen gun attack. Following the incidents, protests erupted across the region. Demonstrators blocked main roads, including the Karakoram Highway, Gilgit–Shandur Road, and Baltistan Road, demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits. Shops and markets in Gilgit remained closed in protest. Addressing a press conference to provide further updates, Inspector General of Police (IG) Gilgit-Baltistan Afzal Mahmood Bu...

MANSEHRA: Police on Thursday rescued a German tourist, who went missing after being separated from her group during a hiking trip in Kaghan Valley. “The woman had lost her way after being separated from her seven-member group. After several hours of hectic efforts, our personnel rescued her and shifted her back to her hotel,” DPO Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told journalists. The tourist, identified as 66-year-old Karun Anne Malarik, was hiking on the Chapra track near Naran along with six other Germans when she lost contact with the group after nightfall in the thick forest. “We mobilised two teams immediately after receiving information from our high-ups. After an intensive search in the mountainous terrain, she was safely rescued and reunited with her group,” said Mr Gandapur. He added that the group of German tourists, comprising four women and three men, had entered Kaghan Valley via Babusar Top after spending several days in Gilgit-Baltistan. They were later heading to Islamabad following the incident and w...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police on Tuesday successfully recovered three men abducted in Nowshera. Nowshera Police spokesperson Turk Ali Shah earlier told Dawn.com that the “Counter-Terrorism Department has been given the task to make efforts and get the abducted people released.” A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the CTD Mardan Circle Police Station a day ago on the complaint of the engineer’s father under Pakistan Penal Code Section 365A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property) and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti Terrorism Act. A statement issued today from the KP Police said officials of the Nizampur Police Station were alerted about the incident. It added that Nowshera District Police Officer Ahmad Shah assigned the task to Nizampur Station House Officer Altaf Hussain and Sub-Inspector Waqas Yousuf Wittim to safely rescue the abducted men. “The team rescued the three kidnapped people safely with the cooperation and efforts of local elders,” th...

A clash broke out between police and protesters in the early hours of Thursday, leaving several injured, protest organisers claimed, as traders continued to block routes in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Sost Valley. Last month, Pak-China Tajeer Etihad Action Committee launched a protest against the suspension of border trade via the Khunjerab Pass, blaming the federal government’s inaction over unresolved tax-related issues, which have inflicted heavy losses on importers and exporters over the year. One of the organisers, Muhammad Ismail, claimed that the police had launched a crackdown against peaceful protesters, stating: “Police resorted to tear gas and aerial firing to disperse protesters from the venue.” Speaking to reporters, Hunza Superintendent of Police Nabeel Ahmed said that there was no plan to launch a crackdown on the sit-in. “Police were deployed only to arrest a suspect who is allegedly extorting traders at the customs and immigration area upon their return from China,” he said. “The sit-in organisers had...

PTI workers stage rallies across country on second anniversary of Khan’s imprisonment Police fire teargas in Karachi, Muzaffarabad, 9 MPAs detained in Lahore.

Police personnel detained PTI protesters in Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday after party activists took to the streets to officially kick off a nationwide movement for the release of ex-premier Imran Khan, who has been in jail for two years now. Imran, imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023 in a case related to state gifts, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials in alleged terrorism cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots. Imran had issued a nationwide protest call, with a statement attributed to him saying that the “movement that begins on August 5 will continue until democracy is restored in its true spirit”. According to PTI leader Asad Qaiser, August 5 was the inception of the protest, but it should not be considered a “final call”. Lahore Deputy Inspector General (operations) Faisal Kamran told Dawn.com: “More than 30 PTI activists trying to block roads in different areas of the city were taken into custody.” He denied reports of the police arresting hu...

Police intercepted the sisters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his cousin Qasim Khan on Chakri Road as they attempted to visit him at Adiala Jail.

Police on Monday arrested three suspects who allegedly gang-raped a woman last week in the Bakot area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Abbottabad district, springing into action after the incident sparked social media outrage. Abbottabad police spokesperson Azam Mir Afzal told Dawn.com that the suspects had allegedly gang-raped a woman from Rawalpindi on Wednesday. “District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Tufail took action and ordered the immediate arrest of the suspects after the incident was highlighted on social media, including Facebook and TikTok,” Spokesperson Afzal said. He added that the Bakot station house officer (SHO), Arshad Khan, was sent to the village, where he had also found the local community angered over the incident. On the SHO’s complaint, a first information report (FIR) was lodged at the Bakot police station yesterday under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 375A (rape) and 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, a copy ...

The main suspect involved in kidnapping a three-year-old girl in Karachi was arrested while the victim was recovered, police said on Friday. According to a first information report (FIR) filed by the girl’s father, seen by Dawn.com, the incident occurred on July 23. The girl went to a shop near her house and disappeared around 9pm, the FIR read, adding that the family tried to search for her but was unable to find her. A case was registered at the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station under Section 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of fourteen) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). “The police took prompt and effective action by not only recovering the girl safely, but also arresting the main suspect involved in the kidnapping,” a statement by the Central Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) spokesperson Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi said. “The police team, led by Station House Officer Khawaja Ajmer Nagri Sarfaraz, conducted a successful operation within 24 hours,” it added. The statement cited police ...

A “notorious drug dealer” was arrested in an injured condition after an exchange of fire with the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district, the spokesperson of Swabi Police said in a statement on Friday. According to the statement, police were conducting a search operation on Thursday night in various areas within the limits of Kalu Khan police station, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Circle Shakeel Khan, Station House Officer Abdul Wali Khan, along with a police team, against the presence of drug dealers and criminals. “Police received a tipoff from an informant that notorious drug dealers and wanted suspects were spotted at Wazir Shaheed Road,” the statement said. “A police team was immediately formed to arrest them. Upon seeing the team, the drug dealer opened fire to evade arrest. The police also returned fire using the right of self-defence. The drug dealer was arrested in an injured condition.” Police recovered 400 grams of methamphetamine (crystal meth) and a pistol with cartridges from the...

QUETTA: Police have arrested at least 14 suspects for their involvement in the killing of a man and a woman in the Quetta district, who were shot dead on the orders of a tribal jirga ahead of Eidul Azha for so-called honour. The horrific video of the incident went viral on Sunday, prompting a countrywide outcry. Baloc­histan Police chief Moa­zzam Jah Ansari told Dawn the woman’s family and her tribe members were allegedly involved in the murder as they killed her and her partner for allegedly having a relationship out of wedlock. The man who shot and killed the woman was her brother, the IGP said. On Sunday, it was reported that the woman and the man had contracted a love marriage, and they were invited by their families on the pretext of a feast, where they were informed about the decision of the jirga. Separately, a court ordered the police to exh­ume the bodies and conduct an autopsy, while an anti-­t­errorism court granted physical remand of Sardar Sher­baz Satak­zai to police for two days. Balochistan Hi...

Two men were arrested on Monday for injuring three people, including two children, in a shooting incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Dir, police said. Police spokesperson, Adnan Haider, told Dawn.com, “A man — along with his son — shot his brother-in-law over a monetary dispute in Mayar Bazaar.” Haider said that during the shooting, two children who were passing by were also injured. “The children were identified as residents of Shekhanu Kaly, Lower Dir,” he said. A press release by the district police said that the two suspects had been taken into custody, and a case had been registered against them for further investigation. “An investigation is underway so that all aspects of the incident can be fully exposed.” Haider said that the injured were moved to the Mayar Hospital for medical assistance and a first information report (FIR) was registered at the police station. “The Lower Dir DPO (district police officer) appreciated the timely and successful action of the police team and made it clear that the L...

KARACHI: In a significant development in the investigation of Humaira Asghar case, police have successfully unlocked three mobile phones, a tablet, and a laptop of the late actor, ARY News reported on Saturday. According to investigators, the passwords to the electronic devices were found written in a personal diary recovered from the scene. The devices […]

The Karachi Police on Monday briefly detained government employees protesting for pay hikes and promotions after initially using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Traffic snarls were also caused in several areas due to the confrontations. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com, “Eighty-seven [protesters were] arrested and released on commitment to call off the protest,” adding that their future course of action would be announced after 13th Muharam. He said the police initially took action as negotiations among the representatives of the employees and officials failed. “The Sindh Employees’ Alliance (SEA) — an alliance of different departments of Sindh government employees — were marching towards the Chief Minister’s House. “The SEA has made three major demands, including an increase of 70 per cent salaries and pension of Sindh employees of Sindh from grade 1 to 22, granting DRA (disparity reduction allowance) of 50pc to all employees of the same grades, a...