Brutal torture: Kahuta’s top cops, others issued notices

LHC directs police to take legal action.

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed Kahuta police to take legal action against the area deputy superintendent of police (DSP), station house officer (SHO) and some other policemen over alleged torture of four men.

The court was hearing the complaint of a student who has alleged that police tortured him and his brothers that led to death of their ailing mother.

Justice Shahid Hamid Dar also directed the SHO Kahuta police to get in writing the complaint of Muneeb Ahmed Saeed, the petitioner who had alleged the Kahuta police on November 30, last year, barged into his house and took him, his two brothers and father away forcibly despite wailing of his mother.

Muneeb had moved the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench challenging the decision of an additional district and sessions judge who did not direct police to register criminal case against the accused policemen.

The high court directed the Kahuta SHO to submit report within two weeks about legal action on the case.

Making the CPO and the sessions judge as respondents, Saeed said that city police officer and superintendent of police Saddar failed to initiate legal action against Kahuta DSP, SHO and some sub inspectors and assistant sub inspectors for entering his house, arresting his family members and brutally torturing them in the police station.

“It was at about 4am that the police raided my house and dragged us out. This frustrated my already ailing mother who later died at Combined Military Hospital. We were taken to the police station and tortured with sticks and belts,” the petitioner had alleged.

He said they were not nominated in the FIR that was registered by Kahuta police against the men who, while protesting against gas loadshedding, damaged private and public property in the town.

On the other hand, the SP Saddar had informed the court that he conducted an inquiry and found no illegality on part of the police and the men were duly arrested in criminal case.

The court has however observed that the higher officers of police should have registered a criminal case under section 154 of criminal procedure code if any cognisable offence was found.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2012.