June 3, 2020
By Our Correspondent
QUETTA
Ever since a violent mob killed a young man in Hazara Town on Sunday, the law and order situation of the city has turned for the worse, now seemingly headed towards ethnic conflict.
The tension began when a huge mob attacked three young Pushtun men for allegedly harassing women in the Aliabad area of Hazara Town. Police said that out of the three, one Bilal Khan was tortured to death, while two of his friends Niyaz and Khalil were rescued in a wounded condition by security officials.
According to details, the young men were taken to a barbershop where they were tortured for several hours.
The family of Bilal, the deceased, took his body to the red zone and staged a sit-in outside the Chief Minister house demanding the immediate arrest of culprits involved in the brutal lynching.
Meanwhile, the government has suspended a local SHO for negligence and the police said it has arrested five people in connection to the incident including two main accused.
The provincial government has also formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the incident within 15 days. But in a violation of basic human rights, especially right to access information, mobile internet services have been shut down in the city for two days.
Home Minister Balochistan Zia Langove said that the provincial government will take all steps to ensure that justice should be served. He said that some miscreants were trying to aggravate the situation but the government would not let them do so.
Langov said that for the first time in history, the police arrested the culprits before the burial of the victim.
Niyaz, who survived the violence, rebutted the allegations of them harassing girls and making videos of them from mobile phones. Speaking to Voicepk.net he said that they were tortured over another issue involving money.
ETHNIC TENSIONS
Meanwhile, problems escalated when a Muhammad Hadi, a traffic police official belonging from the Hazara community was attacked by unidentified persons in the civil hospital. Hadi said the assailants wanted to kill him but his life was saved by fellow police officials.
After the incident, the Hazara community protested by blocking the western bypass for several hours.
Assistant Inspector General of Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that some elements were trying to worsen the security situation through social media posts. He said that the police have contacted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take action against the people who are fueling the tensions through the internet.