KARACHI: Four Pakistan police officers have been charged with corruption hours after one of the country’s top cricketers complained of having been shaken down for bribes during a recent road trip, officials said Tuesday.
Sohaib Maqsood, who played 29 one-day internationals and 26 Twenty20 matches for Pakistan until 2021, wrote on X that he had been stopped while driving from Karachi to Multan.
“Sindh police is so corrupt that they stop you after 50 km and ask for money or they threat you to go to the police station...,” he posted.
He said he paid 8,000 rupees (around $28) on his way to take part in a T20 match.
Later Tuesday, a statement from Sindh police said four police officers had been found to have been involved in the incident.
“Legal action has been initiated,” the statement said, adding that two police officials had been suspended for “negligence.”
Police officers in Pakistan have long been accused of corruption, and those in rural areas of the Sindh province have a particularly bad reputation.
International cricketers are usually treated as celebrities in Pakistan, but often conceal their identities in public.
Howzat! Pakistan cops arrested after shaking down star cricketer
https://arab.news/43pz3
Howzat! Pakistan cops arrested after shaking down star cricketer
- Sohaib Maqsood said he paid Rs8,000, or around $28, on his way to participate in a T20 match
- Cricketers are usually treated as celebrities in Pakistan, but usually conceal their identities in public
Five cops killed as gunmen ambush police van in northwestern Pakistan
- Over a dozen “well-armed terrorists” ambushed police van in northwestern Karak district, say police
- Pakistan’s northwestern KP province has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in recent months
PESHAWAR: Five cops were killed when a group of “terrorists” ambushed a police van in Pakistan’s northwestern Karak district on Tuesday, a police official confirmed.
Karak police spokesperson Shaukat Khan said a heavy police reinforcement has been dispatched to the site of the attack in the district’s Gurguri area to collect evidence.
“Over a dozen well-armed terrorists ambushed a police mobile van in the jurisdiction of Gurguri police station, an inaccessible area of the district, leaving five policemen martyred,” Khan told Arab News.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, similar attacks on police and security forces have been claimed in the past by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban.
Khan identified the slain police officers as Shahid Iqbal, Arif, Sami Ullah, Safdar and the driver named Muhammad Ibrar.
“Evidence has been collected from the crime scene and a comprehensive search operation is now underway to apprehend the perpetrators,” Khan said.
The Gurguri region is home to a large gas field, where exploration activities take place regularly. This often necessitates heightened security measures by law enforcement personnel.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant activities, particularly in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, in recent months.
Earlier this month, one police constable was killed while five others were injured in a suicide blast that targeted a police vehicle in the Lakki Marwat district.
Similarly, three police personnel were killed in November when militants attacked a checkpost in Hangu city.
Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan for facilitating cross-border attacks against its security forces and turning a blind eye to the TTP’s activities on its soil.
Afghanistan rejects the allegations and says it cannot be held responsible for Islamabad’s security lapses.
