The Islamabad police arrested Rafaqat Tanoli, father of a 2022 car accident victim, on Thursday when they were holding a sit-in to demand justice for his son.

Video footage showed policemen taking him to the van as reporters followed them to take a close-up shot.

Tanoli, along with his family and relatives, staged a sit-in in the federal capital to demand the suspect’s arrest.

Rafaqat Ali’s son Shakeel Tanoli and his colleague Hasnain Ali both were waiters at Savor Foods. They were going home on June 8, 2022 midnight when they were hit by a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) allegedly driven by a woman.

The woman left the vehicle on the spot and fled from the scene. The police took the car into custody. But a Lahore High Court official returned the car back on superdari (interim disposal).

“If our demands are not met, we will move towards D-Chowk from here,” Rafaqat Ali, father of the victim, said while appearing on Aaj News show Rubaroo via video link from the protest site. “We will protest until the murderer of my son is arrested.”

Later, police in a statement said that security measures were taken after more than 80 protesters gathered outside the National Press Club.

“The protesters set fire by burning tyres and blocked the road to stop the movement of people,” they said in a statement.

The police repeatedly tried to explain and negotiate with the protestors, but the protestors were adamant about going to the Red Zone, it added.

“While taking the law in their hands, the protesters started marching towards D Chowk. On being stopped by the police, the protestors started running and attacked the police,” the statement said and added that police adopted a “suitable strategy” and stopped the protesters from going to the Red Zone.

The police arrested six miscreants and shifted them to the police station. “All kinds of protests and demonstrations are prohibited in the Red Zone. No one will be allowed to take the law into their hands.”