BARRED FROM RED LIGHT AREA, CHINA WORKERS FIGHT PAK COPS

ISLAMABAD: Chinese nationals engaged in constructing a highway in Pakistan’s central Punjab province scuffled with policemen deployed for their security after they were barred from visiting a red light district, according to a media report.

Chinese engineers and other personnel, who are currently working on the M4 motorway from Bahawalpur to Faisalabad, attacked the policemen on Wednesday after they were prevented from leaving their camp in Khanewal without a security detail, Dawn News reported.

In mobile phone f ootage shared widely on social media, the Chinese nationals are seen approaching the policemen in a provocative manner and scuffling with them. One video showed a Chinese man standing on the bonnet of a police van, and another showed several Chinese men hitting policemen and some men in plainclothes.

Police officials told the media the Chinese had wanted to leave their camp and visit a red light area on Tuesday night. They protested when they were not allowed to leave the camp without being accompanied by security guards. The Chinese engineers also cut off power to a police camp at the construction site, the officials said.

Media reported the Chinese engineers wrote a letter to Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, in which they claimed police officials had prevented them from performing their duties and also attacked them. They accused the official in-charge of security of attempting to hit Chinese workers with his vehicle.