3 cops held for fatally choking teenager

Three police officials including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) were arrested after a teenaged student of a seminary died allegedly due to the police torture at a village in the suburbs of Alipur city on Thursday.

A spokesman for the police said a police team reached at a seminary in response to a call to on helpline 15 where some people were quarrelling over cutting off a tree. Policemen claimed teenager Hafiz Yasir died during the quarrel while they were trying to resolve the dispute. However, the local people present on the spot said the youth died due to police torture.

The police spokesman said deceased’s relatives said that Hafiz Yasir was cutting a tree when police reached there and started torturing him. The boy was choked to death when some policemen grabbed him from the neck.

The spokesman said an FIR has been registered with PS Sadar Alipur against three policemen including an ASI on the complaint of the report of relatives of the deceased and they have been arrested.

DPO Hassan Iqbal said investigations would be carried out on merit and promised that strict punishment would be awarded to police officials if allegations were proved against them.

The DPO said no one was above the law and there would be no leniency would be tolerated in the investigations against the suspects. Body of the deceased was sent to THQ hospital for post-mortem examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2020.