LAHORE: Amid crackdown on the people involved in running a malicious campaign against the Pakistan Army after the ouster of Imran Khan from the office of the prime minister, an army officer was severely beaten up by some men associated with a political party, police said on Thursday.
Lahore police on Thursday registered an FIR against seven persons involved in the torture of the army officer named Major Haris.
"We have arrested three of the nominated suspects and raids are underway to nab the other four," Lahore police chief Shahzada Sultan told a press conference on Thursday.
He said the accused belonged to a political party but did not mention the name of the party.
According to the FIR, the seven persons boarding a four-wheeler hit a car, which was driven by Major Haris, on Ferozpur Road.
"Major Haris was not in uniform but he introduced himself but the men beat him severely," alleged the father of Haris in the FIR.
On the other hand, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested a total 15 suspects in Punjab province over their alleged involvement in a defamatory campaign against state institutions, especially Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa during the last three days.
Since former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion last Saturday, some 15 million tweets against army, judiciary and the new Shehbaz Sharif led government made top trends in Pakistan.
Although the FIA had not associated the online abusers with any political party, but Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf senior leader Asad Umar had said the party would move court against harassment of its social media activists.
The PTI social media team members have gone underground to evade arrest.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said the recent wave of arrests and harassment of PTI supporters allegedly for having been part of a "smear campaign" against the institutions must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
The HRCP said all the citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, enjoyed the right to freedom of expression and opinion.
The commission urged the new government not to follow in the footsteps of the previous one and ensure that entrenched curbs on this fundamental right were dissolved once for all.