Misuse of power: Police accused of extra-judicial killing, assault

DPO orders inquiry into one of the cases.

BAHAWALPUR:

In two rallies against a station house officer and a police post in charge on Wednesday, the protesters accused them of murder and assault, respectively, and demanded that action be taken against them.

Protesters in the Sama Satta area gathered in front of the district police office. They alleged that city Station House Officer Irshad Bukhari had killed Khaleel Ahmed on March 13 in a staged shootout after the deceased refused to bribe him. They said Bukhari had demanded Rs150,000 to let the man go.

They said the SHO and his subordinate were now threatening to also kill some of the man’s cousins in a false case if they were not bribed.

Abdul Ghaffar, a cousin of the deceased, said that SHO Bukhari had arrested Ahmed, a resident of Nawabad village in Basti Yar Muhammad near Bahawalpur, three weeks ago. He said the SHO had demanded that Ahmed pay him Rs150,000 to be let go. When he told him that he could not pay the money, he said, the SHO and Sub Inspector Mairaj Khan beat him up. He said they let him go after some time, but killed him on his way home and claimed that there had been a shootout with the police.



Ghaffar said he and several other relatives of the deceased had also visited the police station earlier to request the SHO to let Ahmed go, “but they refused and reiterated their demand”. A few hours later, he said, they were informed that Ahmed had been fatally shot in an encounter shortly after he “fled the police station after shooting at the police”.

He said the police later also detained him and some of his cousins for a few hours and demanded a Rs100,000 bribe. He said they frequently passed-by their house to harass them.

The protesters demanded that the regional police officer take action against the policemen. They dispersed after Saddar deputy superintendent of police assured them that the SHO and the SI will be questioned and suspended from jobs if found guilty.

Elsewhere, a protesting family alleged that the Satellite Town police post in charge had been bribed by their (protesters’) opponents in a land dispute.

The protesters gathered in front of the office of District Police Officer Sohail Habib Tajik and said that Sub Inspector Muhammad Iqbal had broken into their house on Tuesday, injured a woman with a gun and taken away her gold earrings. They said he was supporting their opponents.

They said they feared that the police might break into their house anytime. They demanded that the RPO take notice of the incident.

They dispersed after DPO Tajik told them that he had ordered an inquiry into the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2013.