Madrasa students detain, torture TV crew

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani TV news channel claimed that three of its employees were detained and tortured by students of a madrasa in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Geo TV, a private channel, reported that Shaharyar and cameraman Irfan were filming the Jamia Rahimia madrasa near Kasur for a story involving two missing girl students when some men came outside and snatched the camera.

The students forced the two and their driver into the madrasa and tortured them, Daily Times reported.

The channel contacted police which obtained their release and directed the channel to obtain police protection before filming madrasas, it said.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Jamia Hafsa madrasa, whose students were involved in Taliban-style moral policing here, met Islamabad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Chaudhry Mohammad Ali and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zafar Iqbal on Friday  and demanded the release of students who had been arrested for burning CDs and videos at a shop at Bara Khou.

The delegation accused the police of registering a false case against madrasa students.

The officers assured the delegation that the court would acquit the three students if they were found innocent.