LAHORE: The capital city police officer (CCPO) arrested four Dolphin Squad policemen for mishandling the incident of robbing a German cyclist (tourist) and issued an order to initiate further departmental action against them.

The police also arrested three suspected robbers who had ambushed the tent of the German cyclist set up in the North Cantonment area and took away his camera, mobile phone and other valuables. They were arrested during a raid carried out in the Barki area.

CCPO Bilal Siddique Kamyana took action against the policemen after inquiring about the matter himself at his office on Tuesday.

He launched a probe in the light of an initial inquiry carried out by the Cantt division SP, who pointed out that the four policemen had left German tourist Florian Berg unattended on the road instead of helping him when he was robbed by the criminals.

An official said the policemen had also suggested to the German cyclist to avoid lodging a criminal case against the armed men when he told them about the street crime.

He said the incident took place at around 1:30am on August 3 and it came to the notice of the police high-ups the next morning when the tourist requested a local to call 15 to report the street crime.

Responding to the call, the police personnel from the next shift of the Dolphin Squad reached the site and took him to the police station for registration of a case.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024