Tariq Bara denies firing incident at his dera

Author: Hassaan Ahmed

Tariq Bara, the brother of Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA)-elect Nadeem Abbas Bara, said on Tuesday that no incident of firing was reported at their dera (guesthouse) and all such videos are fake.

“My brother has defeated a mafia of Lahore from PP-161. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Hanjarwal was like a personal servant of Saiful Malook Khokhar who was our opponent in the elections and therefore, he registered fake cases against my brother,” Tariq Bara said, while talking to media persons at Lahore Press Club accompanied by his legal team.

Hanjarwal Police raided the dera of Nadeem Bara last Saturday and according to the police, the MPA-elect was involved in aerial firing and fireworks to celebrate his victory from PP-161. The police had to face resistance from Bara when they raided his dera. An FIR was launched by Hanjarwal Police against 27 nominated accused, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Nadeem Abbas Bara under Sections 324, 148,149, 186, 353, 395, 436, 511 and 427 of Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act for allegedly thrashing and injuring the police official. The sections of tearing their uniforms, snatching official’s rifles and wireless, attempting to set ablaze police van, firing in the air and creating panic in the area were also included in the FIR. PTI’s MPA-elect surrendered himself to the police when the Chief Justice of Pakistan took suo motu notice while also directing the police to arrest the MPA-elect. Five-day physical remand of the accused was given to the Hanjarwal police by the ATC on Monday.

Addressing the press conference, Tariq further added that the police presented “our six workers only in the court despite the fact that our over 300 workers are under arrest illegally and therefore the CJP, Inspector General Punjab and caretaker government should pay attention to our point of view”.

He was of the opinion that videos that went viral on social media have nothing to do with their dera as that incident happened somewhere else. The police manhandled “our workers while entering our dera and also harassed our women in a fake case that was launched at the behest of Khokhar brothers”, he added.

Advocate Wasim Jabbar, Tariq’s counsel, said that the Hanjarwal police kept intimidating the Bara family throughout their election campaign and the polling process was also halted by the police on the Election Day just to defeat the Bara family but they secured their seat despite all such tactics.

Meanwhile, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Additional IG BA Nasir distributed cash prizes and appreciation certificates among the staff of Hanjarwal Police Station while lauding the services of SHO Hanjarwal Rana Afzal and Constable Mumtaz Hussain who were injured during the scuffle with the supporters of Nadeem.

“These police officials must be appreciated for establishing the rule of law despite the fact that MPA-elect took law into his hands and therefore he should be punished for his crime committed that day,” said CCPO Lahore.

Published in Daily Times, August 1^st 2018.