LAHORE: A man allegedly under the influence of intoxicants assaulted employees at a petrol pump on Airport Road, and in a fit of rage pointed a rifle at them and issued death threats, according to police.
Police said the suspects also threatened the security guard at the petrol pump with dire consequences. A case has been registered over the incident. CCTV footage of the assault on the employees has since surfaced.
According to police, the incident initially appears to be the outcome of a dispute that arose over the alleged use of an oil tanker as a washroom.
Police said the process of identifying the suspects with the help of the CCTV footage is under way and that they will be arrested soon.
CCTV recovered from the premises is likely to form the core of the prosecution case. In assault cases at commercial premises, footage typically establishes the sequence of events, the number of persons involved and whether a weapon was displayed — a distinction that carries direct consequences for the sections of law under which the case is framed. The display of a firearm during an assault attracts separate provisions relating to criminal intimidation and to the Punjab Arms Ordinance, depending on whether the weapon was licensed.
Petrol pump staff, like security guards and other frontline service workers, occupy a category of employment with high exposure to public confrontation and limited institutional protection. Attendants handle cash, work through the night and are routinely the first point of contact in disputes over queueing, payment or the use of facilities on the premises.
Fuel stations across Lahore have progressively installed camera coverage, driven in part by insurance and licensing requirements and in part by the volume of cash handled on site. That coverage has made incidents of this kind considerably easier to prosecute than they were a decade ago, when such disputes were often settled informally without any complaint being lodged.
The individuals seen in the footage have not been identified publicly by police and have not been named in this report. No response has been available from any person accused in the case, and none has been named in the FIR made public so far. The Lahore Times will carry their position when it becomes available, in line with the publication’s right-of-reply policy.
Police have not disclosed whether the rifle allegedly used in the incident was licensed, or whether it has been recovered.
Leave a Reply