A physically-challenged man has accused two officials of the Haripur police of torturing him and keeping him under illegal detention.
Amir Mehmood, 28, whose one leg was amputated after an accident, told the media that he was arrested along with over a dozen of his customers from his snooker club on Rehmania Road one day back.
He maintained that Station House Officer (SHO) Bashir Ahmed and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Sajid Farooq beat him up, lashed him repeatedly and did not allow him to contact anyone. He said they did not give him food or water and also took away his crutches, making him stand on his only leg for hours.
Mehmood said the police booked a fake case against him and all his customers under section 5 of the Gambling Ordinance, and accused ASI Farooq of “looting” Rs30,000 cash from his club by terming it “stake money”. He showed media persons the torture marks on his body and maintained that being a disabled man running a snooker club is his only means of sustenance.
Mehmood filed a complaint against the SHO and ASI with District Police Officer (DPO) Haripur Muhammad Ali Gandapur, and said he will sue the police officials who subjected him to “cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment in illegal custody”.
When contacted, SHO Ahmed denied the accusations and claimed that Memhood was not ill-treated. “His father and two brothers are criminals and they have been running a gambling den for years,” said Ahmed, and accused him of using pressure tactics against the police.
When asked whether torturing is a lawful act of extraction information or confession from detainees, the SHO abruptly disconnected the call saying that he was busy.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2012.
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