ISLAMABAD: A group of villagers overpowered a policeman, took him as hostage, and tore his uniform after he shot a villager during an argument on Wednesday, police said.

Sources told Dawn that a lonepolice official went to village Athal, located in the jurisdiction of the Phulgran police station, to meet a villager. Later, the policeman and the villager engaged in a harsh argument that turned violent, and the policeman pulled out his weapon and started firing. As a result, the villager sustained a bullet injury and fell to the ground. There was no word about the condition of the injured villager; however, the policeman was rescued after talks.

Hearing the gunshot, other villagers rushed to the spot; the policeman attempted to escape from the village. However, the villagers chased and intercepted him. Thevillagers beat him black and blue, snatched his weapon, and ripped his uniform.

They also made the video of the policeman, wearing only a vest.

After getting the information about the issue, senior police officers along with a well-equipped police contingent, including the CounterTerrorism Department, reached the village and cordoned it off to rescue the policeman. The villagers resisted the police operation, and both sides resorted to firing. There were reports of a few casualties but this could not be confirmed.

Eventually, the police opened negotiations with the villagers, whoagreed to release the policeman.

The police official was later shifted to a hospital.

A senior police officer told Dawn that the reason behind the presence of the policeman in the village was unknown. Police teams usually raid with full preparation, and a policeman never raids alone, he added.

The area where the incident took place is notorious for drug trafficking, the officer said, adding that the villager with whom the police officer argued was suspected to be involved in such illegal activities.

Dawn approached police officers, including IGP Ali Nasir Rizvi, forcomments, but they did not reply. It may be mentioned here that in September 2013, enraged villagers lynched two policemen near Tarnol to avenge the death of a villager.

The incident took place when the two policemen intercepted a villager and found narcotics on him.

On inquiry, he told police that he had purchased the stuff from a drug peddler in Doray village. The policemen headed to the village with an informer.

When the policemen reached the village, a brawl between the villagers and policemen ensued in which a villager was killed. The death infuriated the villagers who seizedthe policemen and took them into a house, where they mercilessly stoned the police officials to death.

The villagers, however, claimed that four unknown persons intercepted Raja Nadeem to loot him.

His resistance provoked them and one of them shot him fatally. The gunshots brought them to the scene, and enraged at seeing Raja Nadeem lying on the ground, the crowd overpowered the armed men. Despite the intervention of the village elders, the relatives andfriends ofthe deceasedvented their anger by stoning them, which resulted in the death of two officials.