(Image source from: usnews.com)

Radical Islamist Party, an outlawed Pakistani Islamist political group freed 11 cops a day after taking them to a hostage in the eastern side of Lahore after they had violent clashes with the security forces. The supporters of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party attacked a police station who were rallying and they took the cops as hostages. The group was protesting against the release of their leader Saad Rizvi and they mounted pressure on the government and the Prime Minister Imran Khan. Initially, there were reports that five cops were held but the count went on to increase to eleven. A video message that was released by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that 11 cops are taken as hostages.

After the first round of talks went successful, all the 11 cops are released. The government of Pakistan released the pictures which said that the held cops are tortured. The tense atmosphere took grip after the remarks by the French leader over the publication of controversial cartoons. The supporters blocked the roads and the highways at 192 places across the country and 191 were cleared. The last one happened to be in Lahore and the supporters of Saad Rizvi continued to rally. As a protest against the incident, the religious political parties across Pakistan announced a strike across the nation and they asked the transporters to stay away from the roads. All the businessmen were asked to close the markets today.

By Siva Kumar