Because of “free burgers”… Pakistani police detain 19 citizens

On Saturday, a group of police officers in Pakistan detained members of a fast food restaurant, as punishment for refusing to give them free burgers.

The officers arrested all 19 employees of a branch of the “Johnny and Jogno” chain of stores in the eastern city of Lahore, and held them for seven hours on Saturday evening, according to “AFP”.
The arrest caused the restaurant’s kitchen to become unattended and hungry customers willing to take care of their orders.

In a statement via “Social Media”, the fast food chain “Johnny and Jogno” confirmed that “this is not the first time something like this has happened with our kitchen teams in our restaurant, but we want to make sure that this is the last time.”

The crisis erupted when staff at the restaurant “refused a request from a special, high-ranking guest”, Pakistani police officers told them.

Restaurant employees told AFP that most of the detainees are young men, including many university students.

In the first official move about what happened, Inam Ghani, a prominent official in the provincial police, announced on Twitter that 9 police officers involved had been arrested, in response to the cries of many citizens denouncing the incident.

Ghani stressed that “no one may abuse the law.”

According to “AFP”, Pakistani police officers are notorious for corruption and demanding bribes from local companies.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for the reform of the Punjab police force, noting that politicians have appointed “close friends” to control police stations.