CM Mahmood Khan. PHOTO: RADIO PAKISTAN
PESHAWAR: A man, arrested in Swat for providing a cheque that bounced, was allegedly forcibly freed from the police lockup by a Tehsil Nazim and apparently had a police officer transferred.
Tehsil Nazim Abdullah is Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan’s brother.
The incident took place on Monday after the Kala Khot police in Matta Tehsil of Swat had arrested Irfanullah under Section 489-F of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for giving a cheque which had bounced at the teller’s counter.
With Irfanullah, apparently a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporter, it caught the attention of Matta Tehsil Nazim Abdullah.
Sources said that Abdullah, along with his armed guards, allegedly barged into the police station and forcibly freed Irfanullah from the police lockup while disparaging the police officers on duty.
After the incident, the Swat district police officer (DPO) then transferred ASI Amjad Iqbal from the Kala Khot precinct to Upper Dir as punishment for arresting Irfanullah.
The Matta police have said that they have yet to receive transfer orders for ASI Iqbal from the district police office. When contacted, Deputy Inspector General of Police Saeed Wazir chose to cast doubts on ASI Iqbal’s conduct.
He said that the accused had no criminal records and was not involved in any illegal activities nor was he booked in any first information report (FIR).
“ASI Iqbal was exploiting his uniform to give cover to local criminals involved in the alleged illegal business of providing loans on large interest rates, apart from being involved in making recoveries of the illegal interest by using his office. I will not tolerate any illegal activities in my area of duty” Wazir maintained.
The DIG further said that ASI Iqbal has already faced a departmental inquiry for illegal confinement and arrest.
“The arrest of Irfanullah also falls under the same category, his act was illegal and unlawful that is why he was transferred,” DIG Wazir said.
ASI Iqbal, while confirming that he had been transferred by the DPO on the directives of some “higher authorities” which he did not identify, stated that he did not use his uniform against anyone.
He claimed that the directive to arrest Irfanullah had been issued from the office of DSP Akbar Shinwari.
“SHO Rahat Khan marked the case to me and I just did my duty under the law,” ASI Iqbal said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2018.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ