Imran Khan's Covid Tiger Force officer thrashed for asking shopkeepers for bribe; arrested

COVID-19 cases in Pakistan crossed the 1,50,000-mark, while 136 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 2,975, the country's Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Imran Khan, in April, had set up Corona Relief Tiger Force, where more than 90,000 youths registered for the volunteer programme in the fight against COVID-19. However, his personal force has now been engulfed in corruption.

Tiger Force member arrested

In a shameful incident on Tuesday, the Pinigheab police of the Punjab province arrested a member of the Corona Relief Tiger Force for taking money from shopkeepers for their violation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), Dawn reported.

The person has been identified as Mohammad Sadeeq, a resident of Meera Shareef. Police said the man visited the main bazaar and harassed shopkeepers for their alleged violation of SOPs and demanded money for not reporting the cases. Later, shopkeepers beat him up and handed him over to the police for legal action. The police have registered a case against the suspect.

Pakistani Journalist Naila Inayat shared the report on Twitter and took a jibe at the reigning government by saying "Up next, tigers to bribe coronavirus and locusts to leave them alone."

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Coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan

A total of 950,782 COVID-19 tests, including 28,117 in the last 24 hours, were conducted so far in the country. As many as 5,839 new coronavirus infections were detected in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 154,760, the ministry said. The country also registered a record number of 136 COVID-19 fatalities overnight, pushing the death toll to 2,975, it said. According to the Health Ministry, 58,437 patients have recovered so far.

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