‘Falsely implicated’: Family of two brothers appeals for justice

SHO says the two suspects were arrested from the same house as a wanted criminal.

MANSEHRA:

The family of two brothers, booked on criminal charges, has accused a station house officer (SHO) of implicating them in a false case. They have also appealed to the chief justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) to initiate a judicial inquiry and bring the police official to task.

While speaking to media personnel on Monday, Muhammad Riaz, the elder brother of Shah Rehman and Khan Muhammad, said that on January 17, the police arrested a wanted criminal named Kunda and his accomplices during a raid in Sehra Gali village.

He added that as the police were taking them to the police station, his brothers were returning from a funeral procession in a neighboring village. Riaz alleged that the two were forcibly dragged along with the other suspects and arrested.

Once in the police station, he added, the police subjected both of his brothers to severe physical and mental torture in order to extract a confession.

The SHO denied the allegations. He said the two brothers were arrested from the same house as Kunda, giving them a strong cause to believe that they were part of the gang.

Kunda himself died of bullet wounds on the way to hospital after the encounter, police said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2013.