As many as four officers from Sindh’s Sakrand police station were apprehended on Tuesday, while two others faced suspension in light of allegations made by cricketer Sohaib Maqsood regarding bribery and extortion.
The police confirmed the arrest to the media which were made after the provincial police chief’s intervention.
The matter gained public attention when Maqsood took to X (formerly Twitter) to decry what he termed as corruption within the provincial police force.
Maqsood’s ordeal unfolded on a desolate road near Sakrand during his journey from Karachi to Multan. In a detailed account on Monday night, he recounted being halted by the police who, despite being informed of their international cricket status, demanded a payment of Rs8,000 before permitting them to continue.
The cricketer, expressing relief at residing in Punjab rather than Sindh, shed light on what he described as rampant corruption within the Sindh police.
“We are so lucky that we live In Punjab not in Sindh first time in my life I am travelling from Karachi to Multan by Road and sindh police is so corrupt that they stop you after 50 km and ask for money or they threat you to go to the police station for no reason, if you give them money then they will stop you again after 50 km and ask for money again corruption at it’s peak in sindh police,” the cricketer wrote on X.
“We told them that we are international cricketers travelling to multan after our match in Karachi they still took 8000 thousand rupees and then let us go,” he added to his post.
Promptly responding to the cricketer’s allegations, Sindh Inspector General Raffat Raja directed an immediate inquiry, stressing the necessity for stringent action against those implicated.
In a move highlighting accountability, two senior officials from Sakrand police station, including a Station House Officer (SHO), faced suspension due to negligence in handling the situation.
