Court grants physical remand of SHO accused of custodial death

Defence lawyer puts onus on Clifton SP who took alleged extortionist to private location

KARACHI:

The judicial magistrate for District South on Wednesday granted a three-day physical remand of Ali Raza, former SHO of Derakhshan police station, and Head Muharrar Faisal Laghari in a case related to the custodial death of an accused at the police station.

Presenting Ali Raza and Faisal Laghari before the court, the investigating officer stated that CCTV footage has been obtained from Derakhshan police station. The lawyer representing the accused, Salahuddin Panhwar Advocate, argued that the victim, Moiz Naseem, did not die in custody and was not subjected to torture at the police station.

He claimed that the victim was apprehended by SIP Sanaullah, after which SP Clifton Nayyar Ali took him to a private location where the torture allegedly occurred. The accused was then brought back to the police station. The lawyer asserted that the victim was not mistreated while in police custody and that the accusations against the SHO were baseless.

The investigating officer pleaded the court for a physical remand of the accused. Subsequently, the court granted a three-day physical remand and sought a progress report from the investigating officer at the next hearing.

According to police, there were pending cases against the deceased in court, and his son is currently incarcerated. A case regarding the incident has been registered at Sahil police station on the government's complaint.

Torture confirmed

Autopsy of Moiz Naseem confirmed that he was tortured death. There were multiple injuries caused by hard and blunt instruments all over the body, said the report of Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed. The post-mortem of Moiz Naseem was carried out by a board of four doctors in the presence of a judicial magistrate.

Dr Summaiya led the autopsy board which included Dr Kamran, Dr Osama and Dr Sono Mal.

"Multiple injuries found all over his body. Death was not due to natural causes," she declared.

Rogue cops identified

Clifton SP Nayyar Ali was subsequently relieved of his duties following the incident and instructed to report to the Karachi Police Office, while Gulberg SP Uzair Ahmed was appointed to fill his position.

The individual in question, Moiz Naseem, had been apprehended in connection with an extortion case by the Darakhshan police on April 14. As per the complainant Abdul Basit, Naseem had made extortion demands and sent someone to collect the funds at his residence in Sea View. Basit stated that he had already paid nearly Rs1.6 million. On April 14, Basit invited Naseem to his residence where he was subsequently detained by the police. Rather than formally charging Naseem and handing him over to the authorities, the Darakhshan operational police retained custody of him. The suspect's demise occurred under suspicious circumstances while in the custody of the police station on the night of April 15.

Karachi Police Chief Additional IGP Imran Yaqoob Minhas took cognizance of the situation and established an inquiry team to probe the incident. Heading the team is West Zone Police Chief DIG Irfan Ali Baloch.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2024.