Manchester: Cop suspended for assaulting man at airport

The British police officer, who brutally assaulted a Pakistani man at Manchester Airport, in the United Kingdom, has been suspended after a video of the shocking incident went viral on social media.

In the video, the now-suspended police officer can be seen kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the ground at the airport while holding a Taser over him.

Other officers directed the onlookers to stay back while the man, lying face down, was struck several times, BBC reported.

"Following a thorough review of further information that has become available in relation to an incident at Manchester Airport on Tuesday evening, Greater Manchester Police has suspended a police officer from all duties," the police said in a statement on X.

The statement added that the referral has now been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for a full independent investigation.

The police added that it understands the deep concerns that have been widely raised with it, and will continue to meet and discuss these feelings with Greater Manchester residents and elected representatives.

Additionally, a woman is also featured in the video, trying to save the man from the torture. According to media reports, the police also tortured another man sitting on a nearby bench.

Following the incident, Greater Manchester Police revealed that firearms officers had been attacked while attempting to arrest someone following a fight at the airport on Tuesday.

In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said: "We know that a film of an incident at Manchester Airport that is circulating widely shows an event that is truly shocking, and that people are rightly extremely concerned about."

"The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm," Chaudhry added.

"One male officer has been removed from operational duties and we are making a voluntary referral of our policing response to the Independent Office of Police Conduct."

The police officers had been called to the airport after reports of an altercation by members of the public, a police spokesman said. As per the media reports, four people were arrested for attacking the emergency workers.

In her weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan had taken notice of the incident and that the Pakistani mission in UK was in contact with the local authorities.

"The young men in the video were dual nationals. We also urge the Pakistani diaspora to follow the local laws," she added.