Disgraced ASI commits suicide

Victim allegedly took his life after his appeals for reinstatement were rejected

LAYYAH:

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI), upon the rejection of an appeal to reinstate his position, committed suicide by shooting himself. Police recovered his body and Additional IG South Punjab took notice of the incident and sought a report.

ASI Asmat Al Aman allegedly took his own life due to the grief of being dismissed from his job and the rejection of filed appeals. The late ASI also suffered a head injury some time ago and suffering from severe mental health issues, aggravated by the current situation.

The late ASI's brother, Aitisam Al Aman, a lawyer and former General Secretary of the District Bar Layyah, confirmed that the deceased was suffering from mental stress for the past several days. The suicide took place at the victim’s residence in Housing Colony 3. The deceased's body was discovered in his bedroom and handed over to his heirs after the autopsy.

As per the information received by The Express Tribune, the deceased was accused of not depositing evidence in the lockup. It also came to light that the deceased seized 2kgs of hashish from a suspected drug peddler and registered a case against him during his posting at City police station Layyah, after which another officer, Ismatullah, was transferred from Layyah to Chaubara police station several days later. Ismatullah was instructed to deposit the seized narcotics in the evidence lockup, but neither he nor ASI Shehzad Manzoor followed the orders.

Upon receiving the report, the District Police Officer (DPO) dismissed both officers and seized 4 case properties from ASI Shahzad Manzoor. Allegedly, the officer who concealed the case property was reinstated, but Asmat Al Aman was not.

Information from ASI Asmat's family revealed that on September 6, a hearing was held on the appeal for restoration, presided by the Additional DIG. After the hearing both the appeals, ASI Shahzad Manzoor, allegedly the real culprit, was reinstated on recommendation, while Asmat's appeal was dismissed.

Asmat Al Aman, a resident of 137 TDA, joined the Punjab Police as a constable in 2001. In 2011, he was promoted to ASI and served in various police stations.

The victim's father, Amanullah, said that his son was very depressed due to this injustice and appeared very despondent. Aitisamullah Advocate said that on Sunday morning, Asmat woke up at 8:30am and told his wife that he was going for a walk. When he did not return for four to five hours, they searched for him and found his body in the upstairs bedroom.

Additional Inspector General of Police South Punjab Dr. Ehsan Sadiq took notice of the incident and sought a report from the concerned officers. The Additional IG ordered that an inquiry be formed to probe every aspect of the matter and the facts should be brought to light.

ASI Asmat Al Aman was laid to rest after his funeral prayers near his house at midnight. A large number of lawyers, journalists, civil society members, police officers and citizens attended the funeral. The deceased ASI is survived by three daughters and a son.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2022.