Waqas A Alam tweeted on Friday that he was stopped by Rangers personnel while on his way to work and did not see that the roads were blocked to clear the route for DG Rangers Maj Gen Iftikhar Hasan Chaudhry. He said he was stopped when he came in their way and they began slapping him, and abusing him, according to a story in The Friday Times.

Alam tweeted the incident which was widely shared and commented on but has since deleted the tweet.

The Friday Times quotes him narrating the incident and how when he told the Rangers that he was a journalist and that he felt humiliated by the treatment, the officials got even angrier. One ‘senior’ official said, “do you think that just because you are a journalist, we will let you go? are you above the rest”?

He said he was taken to one side and humilitated for 40 minutes.

Alam said he will never forget the moment and asked whether the Rangers were in Karachi for the security of the people or to humiliate them.

Earlier this month photojournalist Faisal Mujeeb was badly beaten by Rangers while he was on duty covering the MQM's foundation day ceremony.

Although he has deleted the tweet, he received a lot of support and sympathy from social media users who also took to Twitter to condemn his harassment.

While expressing their sympathy, one user said this treatment seemed the norm for Karachiites.

One user said the incident showed how ordinary citizens are treated in Pakistan.

Comedian Ali Gul Pir asked for bloody civilians to be allowed to live in peace.

Former Dawn editor Abbas Nasir said this incident would not reflect well on the country's image.

While Reem Khurshid said it was the consequence of militarised policing.