Cops accused of illegal detention, extortion

ISLAMABAD:

Families of two young men who earn their living by selling flowers in the federal capital have approached the Islamabad police chief at his open court, alleging that police illegally detained the men for eight days, extorted Rs0.23 million from their relatives and threatened to implicate them in false cases if they failed to pay an additional Rs1 million.

The inspector general of police (IGP) has directed the assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Ramna Circle to investigate the allegations.

In a written application submitted at the IGP's open court, Babar Ali and Hakim Ali stated that their brothers, Sher Ali, son of Allah Rakha, and Hashim Ali, son of Allah Ditta, worked at a flower and decoration shop in I-10.

They alleged that around eight to nine days ago, 10 to 12 men in plain clothes picked up their brothers from the shop without any apparent offence and shifted them to Shalimar police station.

According to the application, at around 9pm the same day, police personnel entered their homes in Mirabadi without a court order, violating the sanctity of their homes.

They allegedly took away a motorcycle purchased on instalments from Sher Ali's house and a Vivo mobile phone from Hashim Ali's residence.

The applicants further stated that their brothers had previously been acquitted in a case and no case against them was currently pending before a court.

They alleged that when they went to Shalimar police station to meet their brothers, a police officer demanded a bribe of Rs1 million and threatened to implicate them in serious criminal cases and send them to jail if they failed to pay.

The applicants said they were forced to pay Rs230,000 in cash. Despite the payment, they alleged, further demands were being made and their family members were being threatened with detention.

They claimed their brothers had been kept in illegal confinement for the past eight to nine days and had not been produced before any court.

When contacted by *The Express*, Islamabad police spokesperson Jawad Taqi confirmed that the two complainants had appeared at the IGP's open court on Thursday.