Nankana district policemen and trainee constables of the Punjab Constabulary (PC), Farooqabad, allegedly looted buses, manhandled and searched women, and desecrated the Cross at the annual congregation of Ziarat-e-Mariam in Mariamabad village from September 9 to 11, residents of Mariamabad told Daily Times. After the Catholic Church representatives’ complaint on Thursday, District Police Officer (DPO) Tahir Alam Khan immediately initiated an inquiry and appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police (Investigations) Ahmed Nawaz as the inquiry officer. Khan suspended one of the main accused Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Muhammad Saeed and assured the complainants of action against trainee constables. The representatives assured the DPO of their full cooperation in providing witnesses and proof. Since 1949, a ziarat (pilgrimage) is held every year to pay homage to Saint Mary at the village named (Mariamabad) after the holy personage of Jesus Christ’s to provide security to the congregation looted buses and harassed the pilgrims. They also alleged that groups of PC trainees were involved in looting. The pilgrims detained a group of constables on September 10 and they, in a video recording, said that they were not on duty and some other gang was involved in looting. The Parish Priest handed over the constables to the police the next morning but they released them without registering an FIR or complaint against them. A duty officer at the police station concerned said the deputy superintendent of police had ordered their release after consulting the Farooqabad PC high-ups.
The alleged incident of desecrating religious relics and the Cross by the police, including the Khanqa Dogran policemen, has provoked outrage in the community. The incident occurred when the police started demolishing stalls established by the roadside for unknown reasons.