On the lam: Accused ASP fails to appear in court

Has been on the run for five-months.

ISLAMABAD:

An assistant superintendent of police (ASP) who has been indicted in a murder case along with three other police officials failed to appear before the court and was declared a fugitive.

ASP Dr Khalil Ahmad Bhutta’s hearing was scheduled to be held on Friday in the court of Civil Judge Khurram Malik, who had previously granted interim bail to the accused. However, after the ASP failed to appear in court, his lawyer, Riyasat Gondal, was told that his bail has been cancelled.

The ASP is accused of torturing and killing Saadat Ali, a carpenter at the Public Works Department, after picking him up on suspicion of kidnapping a 15-year-old boy. Ali died at the I-9 Police Station on September 28, 2012.

The accused had been granted pre-arrest bail from courts in Lahore and Multan, but remained a fugitive for five months before getting interim bail from the court in Islamabad. Raja Rizwan Abbasi said the culprits pressured the deceased’s family to accept an out-of-court settlement in connivance with the local police.

The judicial inquiry into Ali’s murder confirmed that the deceased was tortured by the police during interrogation.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2013.