MARDAN/ SHERGARH:
A 15-year-old boy, who was arrested by the Shergarh police in a robbery case, allegedly died of police torture on Thursday.
Mardan Medical Complex CMO Dr Kamran, who treated Akhtar Ali, told The Express Tribune that he was unconscious when the police and family members brought him to the hospital on Thursday at 8pm. He was pronounced dead at 10:30pm. The post-mortem report shows signs of strangulation.
“His condition was very serious when he was brought in. We were about to refer him to the Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar,” he said, adding that the victim’s eye had deep black scars as well.
Ali, a resident of Chandani Chowk Shergarh, was arrested after an FIR was filed against him and his friend for a robbery on August 21. The FIR stated that they stole gold, two cell phones, one pistol and Rs22,000 in cash from a neighbour Abdullah Shah, said police constable Arif Khan, who is accused of torturing the boy.
Khan added that when his relatives came to meet Ali, they found him strangulated in the washroom.
Sabz Ali, father of the deceased, told The Express Tribune said that when he went to see his son he found him in an unconscious state and alleged that police torture killed him.
Later on Thursday, residents took Ali’s body and suspended traffic for around an hour on the Nowsehra-Mardan Road outside the chief minister’s residence.
On Friday, protestors blocked the Malakand Highway for five hours and threw stones at the Shergarh police station demanding that an FIR be registered against the accused police officials. When the protestors became violent, DPO Mardan Danishwar Khan and DCO Zakaullah, came to the site. They ordered an inquiry against SHO Fazal Akbar and police official Arif Khan and suspended the accused from duty. The DCOs have also asked for another post-mortem of the deceased.
When the body was carried off for the post-mortem, the protestors attacked police officials again upon which policemen used tear gas. The situation normalised when a formal FIR was registered against the accused officials.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2012.
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