On Monday night, the National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) issued a fine to a young man for not wearing a helmet while riding his motorbike on the Bahawalpur-Ahmadpur Highway, near a ghee plant. In an act of frustration, the young man reportedly set his motorbike on fire.
According to witnesses, a young man named Adnan was riding a motorbike without a helmet when he was stopped by NH&MP officers at beat number 20 and given a Rs1,000 fine slip.
The NH&MP officers seized the youth’s bike as he argued with them. Witnesses said that the young man also asked the officials to let him off the hook because he couldn’t pay the fine because he didn’t have enough money, but they refused.
They said the young man became angry and set his motorbike on fire in the middle of the road. A crowd gathered after the youth abruptly burned his motorbike.
After Adnan blocked the highway by setting fire to his motorbike, NH&MP officers threatened to charge him under the “Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA)” for his actions.
Afterward, NH&MP authorities allegedly summoned Adnan’s family members, threatened them with severe legal action, and made them write an apology for their son’s violent behavior, according to witnesses.
Officials from the NH&MP released Adnan and his family after they submitted the apologies. At this point, it was unclear if they had waived the fine. According to some locals, NH&MP officials were frequently harassing and slapping “unjustified” hefty fines on innocent individuals. They appealed with the NH&MP’s upper management to deal with the officers assigned to beat 20.
