Pak Army announces joint probe in incident involving clash between troops, police personnel

Islamabad: The Pakistan Army on Friday announced a joint probe into an incident about an alleged clash involving troops and the police in the Punjab province of the country, creating an uproar on social media.

The incident in Bahawalnagar, some 400 kilometres from Lahore, surfaced after a string of video clips showing army officers assaulting cops went viral on Wednesday.

One video showed a man sitting on the ground with a bloody nose.

Another clip showed a man and two army personnel forcing policemen to kneel in a queue.

As the videos went viral, comments began to pour in about the episode with some social media users claiming that it was prompted by police recovering an illegal weapon from the relative of an army soldier. Following a prolonged silence, the army’s media wing finally said in a statement that an “unfortunate incident” recently occurred in Bahawalnagar.

The issue was promptly addressed and resolved through collaborative efforts of the military and police authorities however “certain factions with vested motives started fanning vitriolic propaganda” on social media to create divisions between state institutions and government departments, it said.

“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 said.

The Punjab Police denounced the social media hype as “fake propaganda”.

“This matter in Bahawalnagar, which went viral on social media, has been taken out of context and exaggerated,” the police said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Though the exact details of the incident are still under wraps, various versions have been making rounds on social media.

A fair probe may help to sort out the issue.