State brutality: Police baton-charge women, set ‘thief’ on fire

Chiniot and Faisalabad witness high-handedness of law enforcers; Inquiries ordered into both incidents.

FAISALABAD:

Violence begets dissent which begets more violence – that appears to be the motto of our law-enforcers. Saturday saw two distinct episodes of police brutality, within a radius of 50 kilometres from each other. In Chiniot, police baton-charged and severely tortured hundreds of protesting villagers, including women, while they set an alleged thief on fire in Faisalabad.

Baton-charging protesters

Resident of Chak No 129 JB Koora, Ehsan Anwar was shot at by the police on October 4, outside his house. He was shifted to Allied Hospital with bullet injuries in his abdomen and near the heart, and succumbed to them on Saturday.

Anwar’s relatives took his body to the office of the city’s district police officer (DPO) and protested, demanding immediate arrest of the officials responsible.

The demonstration caused a snarling traffic jam, prompting the police to ask the villagers to disperse. When the protestors refused, and the women stepped up and perched themselves on the road, the police resorted to an indiscriminate baton-charge, and whisked several demonstrators to the police station.

Contesting claims

Villagers claimed the deceased, Ehsan Anwar, was shot at by the police when they raided the house, without any justification, during a Nikah ceremony. When Anwar intervened and sought a justification for the raid, the policemen shot at him and escaped, the villagers said.

The police, however, said the deceased, along with eight other accomplices, was consuming alcohol publicly and fired at the patrolling officers who tried to take them to the police station.

The police are not responsible for the death of the deceased, said Station house officer (SHO) Saddar Babar Nawaz Hundal, adding that the accused was a criminal. When asked to give a record of his involvement in any criminal case, he said the Saddar police station has no record against him.

Detained women

The police also detained four women at the Saddar police station, one of whom has kept a four-year-old child with her.

All four women have committed a serious offence and will not be released, said SHO Chiniot City police station Muhammad Tahir. He added that Anwar’s father was a notorious criminal, with a bounty of Rs1 million, and was killed in a police encounter. The family operates as a gang in Faisalabad, Hafizabad, Chiniot and other areas, he added.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, when contacted, said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident and IGP Punjab has been asked to complete it within 24 hours.

Suspect thief burnt

Sixteen-year-old Azeem, an alleged accused in a theft case, was set on fire by the police here on Saturday. Azeem was taken into custody by the Nishatabad police about four days ago.

The accused was tortured in the police custody, and when he refused to concede that he is a member of a notorious gang of motorcycle lifters, he was set on fire. He was shifted to the Allied Hospital in a critical condition, and according to doctors, 30% of his body received severe burns.

While talking to the media, Azeem said he has no source of income and has been falsely implicated in two motorcycle lifting cases by the police.

DPO Rae Tahir Hussain, when contacted, said he has taken notice of the incident and suspended the assistant sub-inspector, Saeed Anwar, involved. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2011.