PA secretary suspended after sons thrash traffic warden

LAHORE: Punjab Assembly secretary Rai Nawaz was sent on a one-month leave after his sons thrashed a traffic warden for issuing them a ticket for road violation.

Rai Nawaz was initially removed from his post and made an officer on special duty (OSD) by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif but later Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal sent the official on one-month leave following an inquiry conducted on the speaker's behalf.

According to police, the two brothers, both sons of PA secretary Rai Nawaz, allegedly tortured the warden when he fined them a day earlier in Lahore.

Both the accused, Rai Mumtaz and Rai Najam, were arrested following the scuffle and were presented before a local court today which released them on bail against sureties of Rs 50,000 each.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) filed an adjournment motion in the provincial assembly against the chief minister's move.

The PTI leader was of the view that the chief minister was not authorised to remove the Punjab Assembly secretary and questioned about what kind of justice was being dispensed where a father had to bear the punishment for the deeds of his sons.

Last month, a similar incident took place when Pakistan cricket star Umar Akmal entered into an altercation with a traffic warden in the same city.