Expat dies in police custody; SHO booked

A man who had returned from Saudi Arabia was killed allegedly due to torture in the custody of Kot Chatha police.

The body was shifted to the local teaching hospital for autopsy.

Punjab Inspector General of Police Rao Sardar Ali Khan took notice of the incident and sought a report from the Dera Ghazi Khan regional police officer, while the Kot Chatta police station SHO and other personnel suspected of being involved in the case were suspended. A case was registered in Kot Chatha police station against four nominated persons, including the SHO, and unidentified personnel riding in three police vehicles.

The victim was taken into custody from the house of his in-laws by the police at night.

He was found dead in the hospital by his relatives in the morning.

Relatives of the deceased alleged that police officials barged into the house during the night in Mana Ahmadani area of Kot Chatha in Dera Ghazi Khan. They took Muhammad Hussain, Nasrullah and Haji Gulzar Hussain into their custody and took them to the police station.

The family members said Hussain and Nasrullah were detained at the police station but Gulzar Hussain was taken to an unknown place and allegedly tortured. They took the man to Kot Chatha Hospital when his condition worsened.

The police also released the other two people and left them at the hospital before disappearing from the scene.

Gulzar Ahmed had returned home from Saudi Arabia three days ago and had no previous case registered against him.

Sources said that the police went to arrest another person but also took away Gulzar Ahmed and allegedly tortured him. The deceased had two children and was the sole breadwinner of the family. The body was shifted to a hospital for postmortem.

Relatives of the deceased, including Ghulam Murtaza, Ahsanullah, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Azam and his two sons Muzammil Hussain and Sarfraz Hussain alleged that the local police personnel, acting at the behest of Muhammad Jamil and Muhammad Khalil, took Hussain, Saifullah and Gulzar to the police station and fatally thrashed him with sticks. They said the deceased had come to visit his relatives. They also alleged that the policemen had taken away two tollas of gold jewellery and cash from the house.

IGP Rao Sardar ordered immediate suspension of the SHO and other personnel suspected of involvement. He instructed RPO Waqas Nazir to review all aspects of the incident and submit a report.

Dera Ghazi Khan DPO Muhammad Ali Waseem suspended six police officials.

The case was registered against SHO Noor Mohammad Khan, Nasir, Dildar Ahmed, Arshad and other unidentified police personnel under Sections 302,452 and 380 of Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the deceased man’s brother Abdul Rehman. However, none of the personnel was arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2021.