Pakistan announces joint inquiry after viral videos show soldiers allegedly beating police officers

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army announced to carry out a joint inquiry with police on Friday after a series of videos showing its soldiers beating up cops in Bahawalnagar district emerged on social media in the last few days.
A brief statement issued by the military’s media wing, ISPR, mentioned the “unfortunate incident” without providing further details.
According to the information available in the public domain, however, there was a brawl between the uniformed personnel belonging to both institutions after a soldier’s relative was arrested by the police without the necessary paperwork.
“An unfortunate incident occurred in Bahawalnagar recently, which was promptly addressed and resolved through collaborative efforts of military and police authorities,” the ISPR said. “Despite this, certain factions with vested motives started fanning vitriolic propaganda on social media to create divisions between state institutions and government departments.”
“To ensure a fair and deliberate inquiry, and to determine responsibility for violation of laws and misuse of authority, a joint inquiry comprising security and police officials will be conducted for ascertaining the facts and apportioning responsibility,” it added.
Similar incidents have also been recorded in the past where the army officials roughed up police personnel.
In September 2016, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police registered a complaint against army officials accused of beating four Motorway Police employees after the latter issued them a traffic ticket for reckless driving.
Earlier this week, police in Punjab, where Bahawalnagar district is located, described the social media videos as “fake propaganda” earlier this week after the incident was “taken out of context and exaggerated.”
Punjab Inspector General Police Dr. Usman Anwar also blamed the social media for blowing the incident out of proportion, saying this had benefited the country’s enemies who were trying to create the impression that Pakistani state institutions were at odds.
He noted there were no differences between the army and the police, adding the two sides had taken steps to address the issue as soon as it happened.