One more citizen dies of police torture

SIU picked up the deceased, later dumped his body near his house

KARACHI:

A citizen, picked up by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), died due to police torture. Later, the SIU police left the body near the victim’s house and escaped. A case related to the incident was registered against unknown police party at Manghopir police station.

According to the police sources, the SIU party unlawfully arrested a citizen named Qayamuddin in the Manghopir area on January 12, 2024. The man was handcuffed, and the police searched his brother Nizammuddin’s house in Altaf Nagar. Later, while releasing Qayyamuddin, the police party warned him not to inform anyone about the raid and the detention and took his brother Nizam with them.

The FIR states that the raiding police party was in plain clothes but they had come in a police vehicle. “I waited for my brother to come home until morning, but at around 10.30am, the children of the area informed me that a dead body was lying in an empty plot. When I reached the spot, I found the body of my brother Nizam,” Qayamuddin mentioned.

Police sources said that after the body was found and the case was registered, DIG CIA Ahmed Nawaz Cheema investigated the incident. He raided the SIU, ordered the release of other persons detained illegally in the cell, and interrogated police officers, including the SSP (SIU).

Read: Torture video of kidnapped driver goes viral

During the interrogation, the death of Nizam in police custody was confirmed, and the police party was formally arrested.

DIG CIA told The Express Tribune that the SIU police party involved in the illegal raid and the death of the citizen has been arrested.

Meanwhile, sources in the police mentioned that the arrest of the police party has not been formally declared yet.

In the past, numerous complaints of custodial deaths at the hands of SIU police have been reported. Allegedly, the SIU party unlawfully kidnaps civilians and releases them after receiving ransom.

Additionally, SIU police detains citizens in cases involving monetary disputes and leaves the victims after extortion.

An investigation has been initiated in this regard. It has also been revealed that the SSP of SIU was removed from Shikarpur due to incompetence, but now he has been posted in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2024.