Staff Reporter
Police have arrested 18 transgender persons during an overnight operation in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) neighbourhood for attacking a man, police officials and a police station.
The crackdown was launched on the night between Sunday and Monday in the Badar Commercial Area of DHA, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Darakhshan police station. Police said they reached the Badar Commercial Area on the complaint of a man who claimed that he was attacked by a group of transgender persons near his residence.
“When we reached the scene, they [the transgender persons] attacked us as well,” claimed Darakhshan SHO Shahjahan Lashari. “Even after we took them to the police station, more of their companions arrived there to attack the police station and damage the infrastructure over the arrests.”
The SHO said the transgender persons surrounded the police station and held a protest against the arrest of their 10 companions, while they also broke the doors and windows during a clash with the police.
More officials were called in to deal with the situation. Lashari said the police then arrested eight more transgender persons involved in the clash.
He said a man named Qaiser Malik had complained to the police that transgender persons were involved in indecent activities in his locality and when they were told to stop them, they manhandled him and attacked him with sticks, with threats of dire consequences.
The officer said that a total of 18 transgender persons were arrested and a case was registered against them for attacking Malik, police officials and the police station.
