Doctored evidence?: Five policemen suspended for allegedly torturing prisoner

Shah produced a video which he claimed to be of the reported mistreatment.

MANSEHRA:

District Police Officer (DPO) Mansehra Sher Akbar Khan on Sunday suspended four constables and the officer in-charge of the investigation branch, while ordering an inquiry into the alleged torture of a prisoner.

Syed Maqbool Shah, alias Pita Shah, a resident of Phulra village, earlier filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court, claiming he was tortured in police custody. Shah said he had been arrested last month for possessing hashish and later jailed in Phulra police station where the police allegedly subjected him to physical abuse. Shah also produced a video which he claimed to be of the reported mistreatment.

When DPO Sher learnt of the complaint, he suspended the accused officers – Investigation Branch In-charge Sub Inspector Abdul Rasheed, along with constables Arshad, Irfan, Qadoos and Murad – while ordering an inquiry into the matter.

When contacted, SHO Phulra police station Muhammad Afzal denied the allegations levelled by Shah. He said Pita Shah was a drug peddler and wanted in multiple criminal cases.

Afzal confirmed Pita had been arrested last month, but claimed the prisoner was not subjected to any kind of torture. The SHO argued the video produced by Pita was doctored in an attempt to malign the police department.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2013.