SHEIKHUPURA, April 16: A protester was killed while 20 policemen, including a DSP and three SHOs, were injured when residents of Muridke threw road traffic out of gear for over nine hours to protest the release of a psychopath who had killed two children in three days.

Some of the injured policemen, including Muridke DSP Raja Fiaz and Khanqah Dogran SHO Riaz Abbas, were said to be in critical condition. The protesters pelted stones on policemen and also damaged their vehicles in Daoke village, some three kilometres from Muridke.

According to reports, a psychopath overpowered Ramzan (7) when he was coming out of a mosque in Moazzam Colony. The accused killed the boy and then decapitated the body and chopped off both hands. Later, he removed the heart from the body and beat a retreat after throwing it in the street.

The residents reported the matter to police which arrested the accused but released him after some time, which aggravated the situation. Two days ago, some unknown attackers had also killed seven-year-old girl Tehmina and seriously injured five-year-old Zainul Abideen with sharped-edged weapons in the locality. Police had arrested three suspects - Haider Saleem, Qadeer and Sakina.

Following two gory incidents and the release of the accused, the enraged people came out of their houses, blocked the traffic on the GT Road after erecting barricades.

They chanted slogans against the police, pelted stones and also snatched weapons from them. The police fired teargas shells to disperse the mob. At this, the protesters turned more violent and started pelting stones and resorted to firing on police. As a result, around 20 policemen, including DSP Muridke Raja Fiaz, Sadar SHO Zahid Shah and Ferozewala SHO Salimullah, sustained injuries.

A protester, Riaz Sheikh, who sustained bullet injuries, died in Mayo Hospital, Lahore. The police claimed that he was killed with the firing of the mob. Meanwhile, DPO Chaudhry Nawaz Warraich along with a heavy police contingent rushed to the spot and tried to control the situation.

It was learnt that the police had rearrested the killer from the same locality. The DPO said that protesters held hostage eight policemen, including Muridke City SHO Mukhtar Alvi. While ASP Rai Tahir said that all the abducted policemen were got released with the help of the elite of the area.

Meanwhile, the angry mob late on Friday night once again attacked the Muridke Sadar police station and the nearby DSP office, ransacking furniture and breaking window panes. The protesters also damaged vehicles parked in the compound of the police station.

Sheikhupura Range DIG Syed Saqlain Naqvi, DPO Nawaz Warraich, elected representatives and elite of the city held dialogues with the demonstrators. They assured them that the remaining culprits, if any, would be arrested within 24 hours and strict action would be taken against them.

The DIG suspended from service Muridke City SHO Mukhtar Alvi and ASI Ilyas for not arresting the killers of the children. The protesters dispersed after the dialogues and opened the traffic at 10.30pm.