Interrogation methods: Bailiff unearths 2 police torture cells

Court officials found 6 people in the cells, the men and children were starving and had been brutally beaten.

SIALKOT:

Two private torture cells have been unearthed by the bailiff of the Sialkot District and Sessions Court on Sunday.

According to court officials, the torture cells allegedly belonged to the Sialkot police and the cells were discovered after recent protests by families in the district that several people had gone missing after police took them in for questioning.

The cells were discovered adjacent to the Sialkot Saddar police station and Kotli Loharaan police station. According to court officials, a bailiff led a team of men in search for the rooms after a petition was filed by Kashmiri Muhallah Sialkot based resident Nasira Parveen.

(Read: Control and confession by torture)

“My son was taken in by the police a week ago and when he wasn’t returned my family and I protested outside the station,” she said. “I had heard reports that he had been brutally beaten and after I threatened to protest outside the district coordination office my other two sons suddenly went missing,” she added.

A special bailiff of the Sialkot District and Session Judge Manzur Hussain Dogar raided a private torture cell near the Sialkot Saddar police station and recovered Nasira Parveen’s illegally detained children. “The boys had been severely beaten and were starving. Two of them were children,” he said. Police officials had allegedly held Khalid, 19, Hamid, 12,  and Asad, 8, for several days without them having direct links to any pending investigations. The DSJ, Manzur Hussain Dogar, has taken serious notice of the situation and has summoned Saddar police station SHO Inspector Azam Dhiloun and concerned police officials to appear before this court with a complete record on September 26, 2011.

Meanwhile, another court bailiff also unearthed a second private torture cell of the police near the Kotli Loharaan police station and recovered three illegally detained victims from the cell. “These men were naked and tied to the ceiling with chains. Their bodies bore signs of severe torture and they were all starving,” the bailiff said. The torture victims have been identified as Jehangir Awan, Ali Hamza Gujjar and Tahir. On conditions of anonymity, a police official told the bailiff that the men had been in police custody for six days. “They have used water torture and flogged them for information but they are not linked with any case. The men are relatives of one of the enemies of a police official,” he said.

Sialkot District Police Officer Bilal Sadiq Kamiyana has taken notice of the situation and ordered a strict departmental probe against the accused Kotli Loharaan Police SHO Inspector Irfan Sher, sub inspector Muhammad Javaid, head constable Muhammad Sher and constable Riaz in this regard.

“These men will not be let off easily if they are found to be guilty. We are also questioning other SHOs in the district to see if there are more of these torture cells,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th,  2011.